NOTED IN PASSING
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘track and field.’
…After just a few weeks of tinkering, the four researchers discovered that the Nike+ iPod is, as Kohno put it, “an easy surveillance device.”
The first problem is that the RFID in the shoe sensor contains its own on-board power source, essentially turning your running shoe into a small radio station capable of being received from up to 60 feet away, with a signal powerful enough to be picked up from a passing car.
[snip]
Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Lee Tien says the Nike+ iPod is a harbinger of things to come. “We’re going to see more devices like this in the next few years,” he said. “This isn’t just a problem with the Nike+ iPod per se — it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when companies unwittingly build a surveillance capacity into their products.”
UC Berkeley RFID researcher David Molnar agreed with Tien, adding, “This shows a need for independent oversight and investigation of these technologies before they go to market. These things happen because the people building devices don’t think about privacy implications.” Article
Felicitations to Messrs. Halls and Gibbs, and to George.
