In a few years, your cell phone is going to be a MagicBand.
You see, a MagicBand contains a RFID (radio frequency identification) tag, and within the next few years, pretty much every techie expects cell phone manufacturers to begin installing RFID tags in cell phones in the United States. An RFID tag is a bit like a unique bar code that can transmit its data back to a reader located up to about 20 feet away. (The RFID tag gets its power from the reader, which limits its range.) There's related technology called NFC (near field communication) that works like RFID, but with a range of about four inches.
Right now, to use your cell phone as an admission ticket, boarding pass or payment system, you have to get it out and have its display scanned by a reader. With NFC, you simply have to place your phone next to the reader, and with RFID, you just have to walk within a few feet. That enables cell phones to become much more efficient and powerful tools for personal identification and transactions. With this technology, your cell phone finally can replace your wallet, becoming the single tool for managing everything you now carry around in that.
So why is Disney spending a billion bucks to create its own RFID system, when cell phones will provide this same functionality in just a few years? That's an excellent question, but let's remember that the big expense for Disney isn't in creating MagicBands (an RFID tag costs pennies to create) -- it's in building all that stuff that will do things in response to the presence of your RFID tag. By going ahead with MagicBands, Disney can be first to market with this functionality in its parks, while launching the system on its own timetable, rather than having to wait for Apple and everyone else in the mobile phone market to decide to start implementing RFID/NFC first.
But that implementation is coming. And it creates some real questions for the public about who's going to be reading our mobile-phone RFID tags, and what they're going to be doing with that information. Do really want every person and business you pass on the street to be able to see the content of your wallet?
Why pick on Disney, then? The company has a good reputation for customer service and protecting consumer data, and it ranks among the world's most trusted firms. As Disney theme park visitors, we already trust the company with gobs of information about us and what we're doing on our vacation.
Because this isn't about Disney. It's about Apple, Google, Verizon, AT&T and every other company that will one day engage in RFID-based consumer tracking, and letting them know that Congress will have some questions about the implementation of this technology. That's why Markey sent his letter to the press, instead of sending it privately to Disney days in advance.
By being the first big company to implement a wide-scale, RFID-based, consumer tracking system, Disney gets to be the company that Congress (the elected representative of the people, remember) asks to answer those questions. If Apple had installed RFID tags in the iPhone 5, and published the same information about privacy that Disney has about MyMagic+, you'd better believe that Apple would have gotten that letter, too.
RFID/NFC techology isn't going to help anyone if people are afraid to use it. That's why it's important -- for consumers and the businesses that invest in RFID/NFC -- to have some ground rules in place regarding the implementation of RFID reading that instill consumer confidence in these systems. Disney's already built that consumer trust. But other companies haven't -- and many don't deserve it.
By asking his questions, Rep. Ed Markey gave Disney CEO Bob Iger an opportunity to sell the public on the safety, convenience and power of RFID. Instead, Iger chose to attack Markey. By doing that, Iger missed a huge opportunity to sell his company's billion-dollar investment to the public. Perhaps that's why Disney PR reps are hustling now, making calls and sending emails to shift the focus back to Disney's privacy statements and explanations of the technology.
Many Disney fans are reflexively taking Iger's side (see the comments after my previous post). But I think it's important to see what's happening with MyMagic+ in context of a larger emerging public conversation over the use of RFID tracking. You might trust Disney. But do you trust every other company out there, too?
Previously:
I have no qualms about using this sort of technology to enhance my theme park experience - but do I want every advertising board in every city I visit reacting to my presence with a 'Hi David, have you thought of buying....' simply because my cellphone contains an RFID? That's a different matter entirely.....
Doing it this way gives Disney the opportunity to use the technology on their terms and, most importantly, to LIMIT it's use....
I still think Iger's response was measured in the circumstance.....
NFC on the other hand is a better topic for discussion, that's a newer protocol can actually transmit data which poses a real security risk.
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=49488
tells you everything you need to know about this story....
I Respond: Are you claiming that you know for a fact that this was the politician's intent? As a journalist, have you contacted the politician's office and ask for his comments?
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/q_and_a_markey.cfm
If Robert has the chance to interview him again, perhaps the first question should be, "Why was it necessary to make your inquiry about Disney public?"
Orlando Sentinel 2007: "As expected, a Congressional panel late last week voted down a proposal to have the Consumer Product Safety Commission begin regulating theme parks... After the (legislation was ... shot down ... the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions — which opposes federal regulation of parks — credited the Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal and Anheuser-Busch with helping defeat it.
"Also, I wanted to give a big "thank you" to the Washington representatives of Anheuser-Busch, Disney and Universal, as well as lobbyists from Williams & Jensen [a lobbying firm that represents IAAPA] who literally spent days on the Hill meeting with elected officials and their staff to educate them on this issue," IAAPA’s Stephanie Thienel wrote on the association’s blog.
Theme Park Insider thread in 2003: http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=1121
While these pieces of legislation deal with issues of safety to protect guests from physical injury (a worthy consideration), by publicly attacking the theme park industry's largest operator in a VERY public manner, it seems reasonable to question whether Rep. Markey's priorities are to protect consumers or to simply undermine the industry. If that's the case, Mr. Iger's firm response seems appropriate.
But it can certainly "be" linked to an individual if this person carries it, as that is the point. If lost and another person carries it, all activities will be recorded as if done by the original person. Thus, the technology must know when it is not okay to keep records for this particular RFID.
I respond: Again (at least according to Adweek), "It doesn't COLLECT nor hold personal information."
I respond (and this is an academic question) how will activities be "recorded?"
Disney is the collector and recorder of information. You have to ask how Disney collects such information.
The RFID continues to provide a signal that any RFID reader can record.
Think of the RFID and the Reader as a pair. This constitues the technology. The fact that the MagicBand doesn't collect information is sort of like missing the point. If you destroy it, it is the best way of deleting your previous RFID signature (your digital persona). The actual data is contained in a database that has all this RFID data and where you have been, which was previously read as you went thru the turnstiles and everything else they cooked up.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/privacy-policy/
What information do we collect through your use of the RF Devices?
When you touch your RF Device to touch points located throughout the Disney parks and Resort hotels, your location is determined based on your interaction with the RF Device reader. In addition, if your RF Device comes within proximity of one of the readers located throughout our Disney parks and Resort hotels that automatically recognize RF Devices, we are able to determine that your are near that reader. The readers that automatically recognize RF Devices may not be visible to you.
The RF Devices contain only a randomly assigned code that securely links to an encrypted database and are configured not to store any other information about you. This allows us to associate your RF Device with the benefits you have purchased and to collect information regarding your interactions with the various RF Device readers at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts locations. Your interactions provide us with information about the products and services you experience in the parks; your wait time for rides, restaurants and other attractions; and similar types of information.
It just seems to me that something touted as "magic" has a greater purpose other than enhancing the guest experience.
And no, I don't only visit theme park site :P
The banner ads you see are as a result of your web browsing history so blame Google or whoever you use.... Disney has nothing to do with the fact that you see their adverts on your pc - the data has come from your PC itself and Google (or whoever) merely selects ads from its banks that ti thinks are appropriate to your interests as revealed in your browsing history....
So don't blame Disney for that at least....
That being said, I'm an adult so I don't really care that much.
How does this change any of what I said? I agree with you on this. I'm saying that Bob Iger had an opportunity to win this round by not engaging, and instead drew a whole lot of people into an awareness of a "problem" that they didn't think they had. The fact that we are all arguing about this in these comments means that Markey won. His constituency obviously loves it when he fights these kinds of fights (or else he wouldn't have been at it for over a decade). The best way to deal with that kind of political grandstanding is to reassure, not to engage. That's all I'm saying.
btw, for what it's worth, I think that MyMagic+ is a huge flop already from a PR perspective for Disney. I want WDW to build new rides and lands. I am NOT excited about a billion dollars spent on a technology that doesn't seem to have a huge upside for guests (besides making Disney more money). I could be proven wrong, maybe it will be amazing. But Disney has NOT sold me on this yet, and I don't see how Iger having a hissy fit helps with this one bit.
I Respond: It doesn't. It never intended to. I was simply adding information regarding Markey vs. the theme park industry that was not noted on this thread (or your post) and can be reasonably regarded as the justification behind the Disney company’s decision to make an aggressive public response.
Mr. Sirota writes: "I'm saying that Bob Iger had an opportunity to win this round ..."
I Respond: No existing evidence that he "lost."
Mr. Sirota writes: "...by not engaging, and instead drew a whole lot of people into an awareness of a "problem" that they didn't think they had.”
I Respond: Markey decided to make the fight public. Disney responded accordingly.
Mr. Sirota writes: “The fact that we are all arguing about this in these comments means that Markey won."
I Respond: That's a pretty subjective analysis on your part -- both whether or not Markey "won" or whether or not the content of a TPI thread is evidence of anything. At this point I would contend the situation is inconclusive as it is still in-flux and the conditions determining if anyone has (or can possibly) “win” in this situation remains undetermined.
Mr. Sirota writes: His constituency obviously loves it when he fights these kinds of fights (or else he wouldn't have been at it for over a decade).
I Respond: I am not in his constituency and would not draw conclusions about what has made him popular (or at least more electable than any would-be opponent). However, considering that all nine of Massachusetts' members of the US House, as well as both members of the US Senate and the Governor are Democrats, I'd be comfortable with the implication that party affiliation has more to do with Markey's success than his battles with the theme park industry.
Mr. Sirota writes: The best way to deal with that kind of political grandstanding is to reassure, not to engage.
I Respond: Terms like "the best way" imply a qualitative state that is based to some degree in conjecture. For example, some might think that the best way to deal with a political bully is to slap him around for all to see. And although I don't know for sure, I doubt Mr. Iger's response was a sole effort on his part and was likely reviewed by the company’s lawyers or public/press relations. I will also bet all of the money in my pockets against all of the money in your pockets that the correspondence was vetted by Disney's sizable lobbying presence in Washington DC – and these are the people who have been dealing with Markey for years and years and years.
Good talk! Best wishes!
I Respond: Verses "attack Disney at all times?"
I'm not sure about the use of the words "at all costs," but when it comes to my family members who are cast members, the hundreds of thousands of people in my community who rely on the hospitality industry for employment I advocate defending Disney, Universal, Sea World, Legoland, Fun World, Old Town, Busch Gardens whenever possible.
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Also, from a customer service standpoint, having one way of doing things makes telling people what to do easier.
As it is:
They can say 'Take your magic band and do blah blah blah'
Relying on RFID in phones or other devices:
They can say 'Does your phone support RFID? If so, then hold your phone blah blah blah. Oh that didn't work, make sure RFID functionality is turned on. On android, drag down from the top and look for the RFID logo, on iPhone, go to system prefences and look there for the RFID logo. If you don't have a phone that supports this, take your magic band and blah blah blah'.