Long range RFID tracking sensors installed

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I wish Walt Disney World could figure out a way to make money other then selling the fact I ate a Sundae at Casey's to a disreputable cell phone company......oh wait, $11.57 Billion in profits last year without doing so.

Mickey says relax.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sorry but what?

It means that while your point is correct, it doesn't matter. Regardless of whether the data is stored on the band or in a system linked by the band, CMs still have immediate access to all of your data.

 

[JoeA]

Disney is not interested in tracking individuals - no worries. They are tracking the movement of large quantities of guests at a time.... Something like: X number of guests were in Animal Kingdom at 9am At noon, X% of those same guests left the park and X% at lunch at Tusker House and X% went to DTD Or X % of guests who are in MK during the day return to resort for dinner while x% of guests who were in DHS remain in the park Disney is making investment decisions based on guest choices and movement. The bands help Disney determine what's happening and how to invest. It really isnt about tracking individuals. The data is in percentages of overall guests are doing this or that - not your name.

Someone who gets it!

Disney isn't tracking "joe" through the parks, or going to tell State Farm that I LOVE me some Big Bamboos from Yak and Yeti. Man, would they have a story to tell. And trust me, State Farm would drop me like a bad penny if they saw the stats from F&W!

They've hired some very bright pHd from most likely Stanford to write very sophisticated algorithms to track "data". You're a data point, not an individual.

But the real interesting part for me is they want to treat you like an individual. "Happy Birthday, Joe - will you be drinking a Big Bamboo today?"

I really think this is two separate use cases.

Marketers learn more about you from your browsing habits and social media usage.

 

[sethschroeder]

It means that while your point is correct, it doesn't matter. Regardless of whether the data is stored on the band or in a system linked by the band, CMs still have immediate access to all of your data.

But they don't have access until they scan your MB do they?

By the way wouldn't CMs be able to get the information anyways in the past? They just wouldn't know what you looked like?

Its not like in the past no information was ever kept on computers people could access. I mean you could call disney and those people could lookup everything about your stay...

I guess I don't get the issue here? Is it that there is a database with the information in the first place?

Would you rather have a central database locked down to just Disney employees or would you rather have no central database and have everything on a piece of paper at the check-in of the hotel/ride/restaurant?

 

[surferdave]

LOL I was just wondering if they're going to start selling tinfoil Mickey Ears

Cool, some new merchandise! That would be a lot better than the "I'm with the band" shirts. At least we'll get something out of this mess.

 

[mom2rtk]

But they don't have access until they scan your MB do they?

By the way wouldn't CMs be able to get the information anyways in the past? They just wouldn't know what you looked like?

Its not like in the past no information was ever kept on computers people could access. I mean you could call disney and those people could lookup everything about your stay...

I guess I don't get the issue here? Is it that there is a database with the information in the first place?

Would you rather have a central database locked down to just Disney employees or would you rather have no central database and have everything on a piece of paper at the check-in of the hotel/ride/restaurant?

The band is what gives them the quick link to the info. In the past I imagine they would have had to actually type something into their computer...... something they would be far less likely to do with cars stacking up behind you.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Cool, some new merchandise! That would be a lot better than the "I'm with the band" shirts. At least we'll get something out of this mess.

 

[thedonduck]

It means that while your point is correct, it doesn't matter. Regardless of whether the data is stored on the band or in a system linked by the band, CMs still have immediate access to all of your data.

Btw.... A CM working at the gate is not going to have the same access to info as a GM at the resort. Just like anything else there is going to be barriers amongst the needs to know.

It amazes me how much people are freaked out by this but yet EVERY TIME you go on the internet and various other places you are constantly tracked and marketed to. Same with your cell phone usage, etc. Move to other countries and you can be physically tracked by CCTV. It's a part if the world we live in today. Agree with it or not, it is here to stay until the next big break technology.

 

[JoeA]

Seems rather appropriate...

 

[sethschroeder]

Seems rather appropriate...

You needed someone typing in their social security number online to be wearing it hahaha, while mailing a photocopy of your bank account records, and telling someone their credit card number over the phone....

"argh, I will get yer information matie no matter where yees has it"

 

[Brian Noble]

That's really a distinction without a difference in this piece of the discussion.

There can be a meaningful difference, depending on what sorts of concerns one has.

With the current implementation, only someone with access to Disney's internal systems can get information about your stay---generally speaking, only Disney employees. With an implementation in which data was stored on the band itself, anyone with physical proximity of the band could get that information.

 

[Brian Noble]

It amazes me how much people are freaked out by this but yet EVERY TIME you go on the internet and various other places you are constantly tracked and marketed to.

Your cell phone service provider (and, in some smartphones, some of your phone apps) know where you are, all of the time, at a very fine granularity.

 

[JimmyV]

Disney is not interested in tracking individuals - no worries. They are tracking the movement of large quantities of guests at a time....

Something like:
X number of guests were in Animal Kingdom at 9am
At noon, X% of those same guests left the park
and X% at lunch at Tusker House
and X% went to DTD

Or
X % of guests who are in MK during the day return to resort for dinner
while x% of guests who were in DHS remain in the park

Disney is making investment decisions based on guest choices and movement. The bands help Disney determine what's happening and how to invest.

It really isnt about tracking individuals. The data is in percentages of overall guests are doing this or that - not your name.

It certainly is about that. But if they aren't planning on using it for target marketing on a micro level then someone should get fired. When WDW opens a new thrill ride, they should be target mailing and e-mailing to people who used a majority of their FPs on thrill rides the last time they were there. Find those people and lure them in with 20% off offers. When a new princess meet and greet is set to open, find the families who spend a good bit of time meeting princesses and target them with very specific offers. If they don't do that, they are idiots.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do many people wear their MBs to DTD? I guess if you use it to pay and stuff, I suppose.

People wear their mbs at universal, to publix, heck, they wear them at home....yes they wear them at DTD.

I gasped when I saw the picture, not because of the thought of being tracked by long range RFID sensors but because we make those units at my place of employment. These are not RFID sensor units, they are a camera system most commonly used at entrances of major retailers to collect shopper information but they can be placed any where a store needs to collect data. (number of people passing through, are they leaving with a cart, and all sorts of demographic type data.) About 2 months ago we had a huge run on these units, typically we don't know where the units will be installed. I guess we now know why we were so busy building these units a few weeks ago. Pretty cool to say that something that my place of employment made is installed at WDW!

Interesting!

Man, I wish it was just a couple of days. My younger brother is an avid fisherman, so for Christmas I shopped on line in places like bassproshop.com for about 30 minutes, found something for him and was done with it. The Dis and several other sites I visit spent the next several months trying to make a fisherman out of me. You don't have to be a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist to find surveillance directed advertising tiresome. I've always found that the bots that try to "personalize" my experience miss the mark badly and become annoying, kind of like a sales clerk in a department store following me around making suggestions.

May I recommend clearing your cookies, cache and history, and deleting all emails from basspro or about your brother's present?




I happen to be in London today. We arrived at Westminster abbey probably an hour after the parade of royals in that area today. It's been interesting to see all the CCTV cameras stinkin' everywhere anyway, but today especially they are monitoring things. If I don't have a problem with that, I don't gave a problem with Disney tracking me.

 

[rock_doctor]

I have no doubt they are tracking us and if they are then they know i just bought a book at DTD... Hay disney, i just paid $60 for a book i could have gotten from Amazon for $30, i expect a thank you card....

I really don't have a problem with this, they are just trying to track volume. Every time you go into your room, every time you scan you card to go though the gate at your resort, every time you scan for a FP+ and so on.

Also remember they now have WiFi in the parks, hotels and so on. All of that is MAC address authentication. So i turn on my phone and connect to WiFi in my room. The system records my MAC address and as i go around property the phone reconnects around the property telling each access point my MAC address. Very easy to follow you around and keep track...

Let them...

 

[Mikie]

We'll apparently it's not just Disney tracking behaviors, but DISboards as well!

I posted a thread about rides that may give me motion sickness. Several people recommended Bonine to combat it - previously I had only ever heard of Dramamine. . . 1 week later, guess what's in my mailbox? A Bonine sample!!

The watchers are everywhere - get out your tinfoil hats!

 

[orangesub]

The long range sensors are used on the cruiseships in and around the kids club. The ones there are black and about the size of a pen. I'm going to the parks soon so I'll see if I spot any once I get there.

 

[RalphinSC]

Long range RFID scanners are already in use to load onride photos onto your Memorymaker whenever you ride a ride. Pretty convenient if I must say so myself. Don't hear too many people complaining about that.

 

[wilkeliza]

From my understanding based on what was presented to the federal government when a case (maybe not the right word a panel from Congress asked for further details) was brought against Disney due to MDE they aren't collecting individual information per say. They will know your unique Disney ID came through there but someone would need access to the Disney system to know what that ID does. It is the same way that since we have been staying at Deluxe resorts exclusively the last few years our mailing from Disney has been more about DVC and deals on Deluxe resorts as well as all the extras and less free dining or discounts at mods and values.

Also it is very very hard to use these like one would GPS. The sensors I read only have a 5 to 10 foot range. They would need a lot all over the park to use them to truly track you. It is like on the cruise ships. They can tell if your kid left the club (with out signing out etc) or if they left the boat but they can't tell you if they are on the pool deck or in Cabanas.

I have worked for several retailers over my life and they use all sorts of tactics to know what is up. I know Bath and Body Works uses an algorithm to figure out when a person entered a store and how long they spent in the store before purchasing something or leaving. They also knew how long transactions took at the register and many other things. If you signed up for coupons they would use your transaction details to determine how often you came, how much you spent, and what you bought. It got really crazy what they could know.

My bank is the same way. They know everything about my habits and I get emails all the time that says you often buy x why not sign up for y deal.

 

[jco_direwolf]

How long range are they that they need two within what I assume about 15 feet of each other?

My guess is it has to do with expected density of guests or by using two they can get more resolving power.

There is a property (and I only had EE clases, I'm not an antenna guy, not even an analog electronics) that if you sense something from 2 different locations, of a known distance apart, you get the effect of having a single antenna that is the size of the gap. (Interferometry)

That is why you get arrays of radio telescopes, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Long_Baseline_Array
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_long_baseline_interferometry