Do You Have Privacy Concerns about the New MagicBands?

I am not scared of the magic bands or the RFID chips. I think once the initial tweaks are worked out, I don't think it will be a big issue.

Also, I have a kind of different experience I would like to share. I know its not exactly the same but, it helps alleviate some of my concern. I go to a large music festival here in Tennessee each summer called Bonnaroo. This past summer the festival began using wristbands with RFID chips. Every person that attended the festival was expected to register your wristband online before you came and it acted as your ticket to get in each day. If you didn't register it, then they did it for you the first time you entered. It also allowed you to check in on Facebook at different music tents. As we entered the main music venue each day and passed through security, you walked past a large box that kind of looked like a 5 foot tall rectangular security box that you have in stores that alarm to keep people from stealing. To get the box to work, you had to actually touch the wristband to the box on a specific small decal. You could not just walk by it, you had to touch it. Everyone in our group tried at one point or another to see if just waving the wristband would work. It would not. You had to make contact with the box. When you went to the different music tents, to check in on Facebook, you had to touch the boxes. It did not detect you because you were "in the area". So I have faith in what Disney is doing. I don't believe that they are going to track my movements just by walking by something. You will probably physically need to touch the magic band to a sensor. They can track my movements without a wristband anyways by seeing where I use my debit/credit card if they really wanted to do so. Also, if you are worried about a CM not completely ending a sale transaction, then just verify with them that the sale ended. I do think there could always be someone out there that will try to do something sneaky or illegal in regards to the RFID info, but I believe Disney will do their absolute best to prevent it and Disney Legal/customer service is probably covering all of its bases for the possible issues of identity theft. As far as marketing is concerned, a lot of companies now give you the option to opt out of it. I can't imagine Disney not giving you that option for this as well. If they start emailing me stuff and I don't care for it, ill simply click a button and add it to the spam folder. If I get junk mail, I'll add it to the trash can with the other junk mail I get. Overall, I'm not really concerned. If anyone is concerned with anything then they won't need to use this optional program. Whats the worse thing that will happen then? You won't get your 3 fast passes a day, you will have to use your debit/credit card or cash, characters won't know its a special occasion ahead of time, or I might not be able to make a certain dinner reservation. Not a deal breaker for my trip. I'm not trying to be snarky so please do not take it that way. I guess I'm just not as concerned as others.
 
Your experience at the music festival is similar to the card I had when I was working at the local Hockey/ Basketball arena here. Most of the employee areas and elevators were accessible by swiping a card against a RFID reader. You actually had to touch he card for it to work, and everyone in the building had them players too.

I am not scared of the magic bands or the RFID chips. I think once the initial tweaks are worked out, I don't think it will be a big issue.

Also, I have a kind of different experience I would like to share. I know its not exactly the same but, it helps alleviate some of my concern. I go to a large music festival here in Tennessee each summer called Bonnaroo. This past summer the festival began using wristbands with RFID chips. Every person that attended the festival was expected to register your wristband online before you came and it acted as your ticket to get in each day. If you didn't register it, then they did it for you the first time you entered. It also allowed you to check in on Facebook at different music tents. As we entered the main music venue each day and passed through security, you walked past a large box that kind of looked like a 5 foot tall rectangular security box that you have in stores that alarm to keep people from stealing. To get the box to work, you had to actually touch the wristband to the box on a specific small decal. You could not just walk by it, you had to touch it. Everyone in our group tried at one point or another to see if just waving the wristband would work. It would not. You had to make contact with the box. When you went to the different music tents, to check in on Facebook, you had to touch the boxes. It did not detect you because you were "in the area". So I have faith in what Disney is doing. I don't believe that they are going to track my movements just by walking by something. You will probably physically need to touch the magic band to a sensor. They can track my movements without a wristband anyways by seeing where I use my debit/credit card if they really wanted to do so. Also, if you are worried about a CM not completely ending a sale transaction, then just verify with them that the sale ended. I do think there could always be someone out there that will try to do something sneaky or illegal in regards to the RFID info, but I believe Disney will do their absolute best to prevent it and Disney Legal/customer service is probably covering all of its bases for the possible issues of identity theft. As far as marketing is concerned, a lot of companies now give you the option to opt out of it. I can't imagine Disney not giving you that option for this as well. If they start emailing me stuff and I don't care for it, ill simply click a button and add it to the spam folder. If I get junk mail, I'll add it to the trash can with the other junk mail I get. Overall, I'm not really concerned. If anyone is concerned with anything then they won't need to use this optional program. Whats the worse thing that will happen then? You won't get your 3 fast passes a day, you will have to use your debit/credit card or cash, characters won't know its a special occasion ahead of time, or I might not be able to make a certain dinner reservation. Not a deal breaker for my trip. I'm not trying to be snarky so please do not take it that way. I guess I'm just not as concerned as others.
 
EastYorkDisneyFan said:
Your experience at the music festival is similar to the card I had when I was working at the local Hockey/ Basketball arena here. Most of the employee areas and elevators were accessible by swiping a card against a RFID reader. You actually had to touch he card for it to work, and everyone in the building had them players too.
It all depends on the application. For locks, payment, ... anything where you need to know exactly which RFID to use the range is very limited. If all you want to know is who is passing by the range doesn't need to be that short at all.
 
I wonder if it depends on the kind of RFID tag? My understanding is the disney bands have both active and passive tags in them which would mean a longer range of pick up as Disney would not want hold up at the gate. I believe active tags can work as you pass a receiver gate without the requirement of touching the device in this example the band. So if I was wearing a band they would probably use passive for payment requiring a touch and door and rides to make sure that is what you want. Then active for tracking us around the park. Just a guess though based on other systems such as logistics.
 


I am more concerned about why the Disboard app requires permission to take photos from my phone and to gain full Internet access. ;)

My concern with the wrist band is that it may be easily cloned, but I think Disney will be risking financial exposure on that as well as the guest.

My other concern is Disney will be able to track which attractions and rides I go on each day. While that provides valuable information and feedback to Disney, it is also somewhat unnearving for me. I do not ride a variety of rides. I have a tendency to want to re ride a favorite ride several times in a row while I'm in the area. I remember reading some time back about a woman who was approached by Disney because she was riding the same right over and over too many times. The last thing I would want is Disney deciding that there's a limit to how many times you can ride certain rides.

________________
Sent by phone using Google Voice, so what you're reading may not be what I actually said.
 


As someone who follows privacy issues as part of my job I'm really intrigued with this thread (and others like it). I respect everyone's right for their own opinion but will now throw mine in:) When I read from folks that they only see the bands as being like your store loyalty cards I cringe some. We don't know of course for sure but IF Disney used the full extent of this capability (and developed more) then it goes wwwaaayyy beyond the loyalty cards. Someone dug out the FCC filing for this and it was something like 100 meters. So with enough devices spread throughout the park Disney will be able to track movements, "decisions made" (e.g. food bought, time spent standing in front of a certain display in a store and then whether you ultimately buy something, etc.) they will be able to amass this data and use it for future marketing as well as use it "live" to help shift people around the parks.

We love going to Disney and will go but I will be a little conscious of this.
 
Do you think one roll of cooking foil per person per day will be enough?:confused3

I figure that not only will we be able to cover ourselves in foil to make us invisible to the Disney spy machines, it will also save us having to buy ponchos.

:rotfl2:
 
GoofyGraham said:
Do you think one roll of cooking foil per person per day will be enough?:confused3

I figure that not only will we be able to cover ourselves in foil to make us invisible to the Disney spy machines, it will also save us having to buy ponchos.

:rotfl2:

Did we really need to go there? The technology behind this whole discussion is real. The discussion surrounds do we trust Disney enough to not misuse the information being collected in the future. Remember the rants from Pete about the finger scanners and how they could be changed to capture finger prints. Why is this any different? Having your finger print taken is much less intrusive. Would your opinion be different if it was a different company or the government who was asking you to wear an RFID chip? Look at all the media hype around cell phone having cell tower history on the device. Is this all that different?

Do I think Disney is going to misuse the information today? No. In the future? It's hard to say. All Disney has said is that they won't sell the information but it's such a large company that they don't really need to.
 
Did we really need to go there? The technology behind this whole discussion is real. The discussion surrounds do we trust Disney enough to not misuse the information being collected in the future. Remember the rants from Pete about the finger scanners and how they could be changed to capture finger prints. Why is this any different? Having your finger print taken is much less intrusive. Would your opinion be different if it was a different company or the government who was asking you to wear an RFID chip? Look at all the media hype around cell phone having cell tower history on the device. Is this all that different?

Do I think Disney is going to misuse the information today? No. In the future? It's hard to say. All Disney has said is that they won't sell the information but it's such a large company that they don't really need to.

If all of your post is directed at me, then the following applies:
1. Did I say this technology isn't real? No!
2. Do "we" trust Disney enough? Speak for yourself, not other people!
3. Did I mention fingerprint scanners? No!
4. Would my opinion be different if it was a different company or the government? I never expressed an opinion on anything in my post!
5. Just how much did that sense of humour bypass cost you?

If only the opening sentence was directed at me, then write a post more clearly and disregard items 1 to 4
 
Now, I shall express an opinion.

Do I Have Privacy Concerns about the New MagicBands? No I do not, but I accept that some people do and that they have the right to express their own opinions.
 
If all of your post is directed at me, then the following applies:
1. Did I say this technology isn't real? No!
2. Do "we" trust Disney enough? Speak for yourself, not other people!
3. Did I mention fingerprint scanners? No!
4. Would my opinion be different if it was a different company or the government? I never expressed an opinion on anything in my post!
5. Just how much did that sense of humour bypass cost you?

If only the opening sentence was directed at me, then write a post more clearly and disregard items 1 to 4
It was all directed at you. You did express an opinion. Your attempt at humor in a serious discussion using imagery usually reserved for crazy people spoke volumes. You can't say you respect people's right to have an opinion and then use humor that belittles those same people for having the opinion.
 
It was all directed at you. You did express an opinion. Your attempt at humor in a serious discussion using imagery usually reserved for crazy people spoke volumes. You can't say you respect people's right to have an opinion and then use humor that belittles those same people for having the opinion.

Yet again you get it wrong!
I used the humour first and then said I respect people's right to have an opinion, not the other way round as you claim.
Just like speaking for other people by using "we" in posts, you now read something into a post that wasn't said.
If all you can think of when I talk about wrapping myself in foil is that is what crazy people do, then you are a sadder person than I thought, who by inference is calling me crazy.
Don't try and read onto things what I haven't said, you will know exactly what I want you to think I've said because I will say it.
Don't you dare criticise me for trying to add a little levity to a serious thread.
 
Don't you dare criticise me for trying to add a little levity to a serious thread.
I'm not criticizing you for trying to add humor to a serious topic. I'm saying that your attempt at humor fell flat because it used imagery that is associated with conspiracy theorists worried about mind control. As one of the people in this discussion I have a hard time taking that in any other way than negatively.
 
Hi All,

Please remember to be respectful during discussions. Everyone has a right to his or her own opinion, and we all must be considerate and polite. Any argumentative/sarcastic posts are against DIS Posting Guidelines.
 
I'm sure I'm repeating others' thoughts, as I haven't gone and read all six pages here :). I'm not hyper-vigilant about security and privacy, but this bugs me. It feels like I get to pay Disney (and pay and pay-skyrocketing costs each year, especially at Disneyland) and now I get the extra perk of wearing a band that collects info for them...not for me...for them to use to market to my children and me more aggressively. I have absolutely no illusions this is about guest convenience or improving my park experience; it's about market data and an eventual increase in what they charge me. So no, not thrilled :).

Obviously, I get that I'll be able to opt out (at least for now) but that will also apparently meant opting out of things like reserving my fast passes...or am I wrong there?
 

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