Magicband battery removal?

[ThurlFan]

How long til someone posts instructions for removing the battery from a magic band? I have no problem with the passive portion, it's really the same as we had on our KTTW on our last trip. Nice and convenient. But I'm not interested in being tracked as I wander the property via the active RFID so if there was an easy way to pluck the battery out and disable the active portion I'd be on board with the bands.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

How long til someone posts instructions for removing the battery from a magic band? I have no problem with the passive portion, it's really the same as we had on our KTTW on our last trip. Nice and convenient. But I'm not interested in being tracked as I wander the property via the active RFID so if there was an easy way to pluck the battery out and disable the active portion I'd be on board with the bands.

There is no way to open the band it is sealed. Also, disabling the battery inside would render it useless. If you don't want tracked ask for the card instead.

I for one think the tracking is the best part. Disney will learn how people move and what they do. This info will allow them to change what they do to better accomodate all of us.

 

[beer dave]

You take a 28 oz framing hammer and a solid concrete block..............

 

[ajfd]

You could get an RFID blocking bag and carry the MB in that.

Same effect, non-destructive.

 

[lebeauc]

You could get an RFID blocking bag and carry the MB in that.

Same effect, non-destructive.

A Tin foil hat for your Magic Band.

 

[godolphin123]

just use the metallic bag that comes with your sunpass

 

[ThurlFan]

If you don't want tracked ask for the card instead.

That would absolutely work for me, but I was under the impression they were going to phase out the KTTW cards. If not, then my question is moot.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

That would absolutely work for me, but I was under the impression they were going to phase out the KTTW cards. If not, then my question is moot.

They are phasing out the KTTW cards, but, they will continue to offer cards, only when requested, for medical or other reasons. The card, of course, will not have the full functionality of the bands, but should do most things. I do not know all the differences.

 

[SkaGoat]

How long til someone posts instructions for removing the battery from a magic band? I have no problem with the passive portion, it's really the same as we had on our KTTW on our last trip. Nice and convenient. But I'm not interested in being tracked as I wander the property via the active RFID so if there was an easy way to pluck the battery out and disable the active portion I'd be on board with the bands.

If Disney were really interested in tracking you, they could just watch you where ever you go on the thousands of surveillance cameras.

 

[ThurlFan]

If Disney were really interested in tracking you, they could just watch you where ever you go on the thousands of surveillance cameras.

Oddly, I don't mind the surveillance cameras one bit.

 

[Golf4283]

Oddly, I don't mind the surveillance cameras one bit.

Then what do you care about the active RFID if you don't mind them physically tracking you with cameras? They can get way more information from you with actual footage of things like facial expressions, body language, where you turned your head, where you looked with your eyes. They can then take that information and cater to your individual actions.

I just don't understand why people care about being tracked as to what they do and where they go when in Disney. I mean you're already in the park. They know that for starters. I'd rather they take all this info and use it to manage park crowd levels and flows.

Granted the negatives will be around too with advertising catered to individuals etc. but still if you don't want the advertising then just ignore it.

 

[doconeill]

Although it may be possible to remove the battery, you risk damaging other components in trying to do so, including the antenna that powers the passive unit. It would also mean the unit is no longer waterproof, and humidity and moisture could further damage it.

As others have said, ask for (well, you might need to demand) a card because you do not want the active transmitter. It is _supposed_ to be an option. However, if you go and customize a magicband, that might be an explicit "opt-in" of using a magicband and they might refuse.

Then you just have to "lose" the magicband.

Then what do you care about the active RFID if you don't mind them physically tracking you with cameras? They can get way more information from you with actual footage of things like facial expressions, body language, where you turned your head, where you looked with your eyes. They can then take that information and cater to your individual actions.

I just don't understand why people care about being tracked as to what they do and where they go when in Disney. I mean you're already in the park. They know that for starters. I'd rather they take all this info and use it to manage park crowd levels and flows.

Granted the negatives will be around too with advertising catered to individuals etc. but still if you don't want the advertising then just ignore it.

Maybe they buy into the theory that Disney is tracking you at home with them too, through all those Disney Infinity RFID pads...

 

[Nudoru]

Personally I think that the people most "opposed" to the tracking are the folks who like to dabble in the darker side of disney, accessing utilidors, sneaking into unauth areas, etc. for the casual visitor or AP holder, this really isnt a big deal. I'm more concerned with someone who has a rfid scanner and a basic knowledge of how rfid works scanning bands using a tablet or smartphone honestly, as that information in the right hands (read not any kid with a smart phone) could be used to eventually ( read NOT INSTANTLY) discern more info about myself and my family/travelling companions than we might want people to know..

 

[doconeill]

As for what you'd lose out on without the active transmitter:

-

Yup, that's it. Right now. As far as we know right now, nothing is using it, and although Disney has suggested at several things, it is uncertain what will actually be implemented. However, a couple of the likely ones:

- Princess meet and greets will greet you by name and potentially recall when you last met them, etc., without having to explicitly "tag in"
- Receive personalized messages, such as on the new TV screens in the "goodbye" room on IASW.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Personally I think that the people most "opposed" to the tracking are the folks who like to dabble in the darker side of disney, accessing utilidors, sneaking into unauth areas, etc. for the casual visitor or AP holder, this really isnt a big deal. I'm more concerned with someone who has a rfid scanner and a basic knowledge of how rfid works scanning bands using a tablet or smartphone honestly, as that information in the right hands (read not any kid with a smart phone) could be used to eventually ( read NOT INSTANTLY) discern more info about myself and my family/travelling companions than we might want people to know..

DH has played around quiet a bit with our bands and the RFID reader on our phones. All that you get from it is a string of numbers. For them to mean anything you have to be directly connected to Disney's database first. There are so many levels of protection that even my paranoid it husband says it would be way more trouble than its worth.

And FYI the signal is so weak that you have to have actual physical contact for a few seconds completely still for any scanner to get a read. Pretty sure you would notice that.

 

[Autumnslight]

As for what you'd lose out on without the active transmitter:

-

Yup, that's it. Right now. As far as we know right now, nothing is using it, and although Disney has suggested at several things, it is uncertain what will actually be implemented.

Not entirely true. Disney is using long range readers to connect attraction photos to people's PhotoPass+ accounts. It's apparently still in the testing phase (like everything else), but it happened for us on ToT. We had no FP+ for it, didn't use our Magic Band at the attraction for anything, and didn't go claim our photo after the ride. However, the picture still showed up in our PP+ account. I was totally mystified, until I saw some other guests reporting similar experiences, and was then told by a CM that that's what Disney was doing.

DH has played around quiet a bit with our bands and the RFID reader on our phones. All that you get from it is a string of numbers. For them to mean anything you have to be directly connected to Disney's database first. There are so many levels of protection that even my paranoid it husband says it would be way more trouble than its worth.

Exactly. My DH and I have also played around with reading the RFID signals from our bands. He has an IT background, and came to the same conclusion. He said with the encryption that Disney is using, it's virtually impossible that someone outside of Disney could get any sort of identifying or useful information from scanning a Magic Band.

 

[wiigirl]

You could get an RFID blocking bag and carry the MB in that.

Same effect, non-destructive.

 

[doconeill]

Personally I think that the people most "opposed" to the tracking are the folks who like to dabble in the darker side of disney, accessing utilidors, sneaking into unauth areas, etc. for the casual visitor or AP holder, this really isnt a big deal. I'm more concerned with someone who has a rfid scanner and a basic knowledge of how rfid works scanning bands using a tablet or smartphone honestly, as that information in the right hands (read not any kid with a smart phone) could be used to eventually ( read NOT INSTANTLY) discern more info about myself and my family/travelling companions than we might want people to know..

There are plenty of people who don't like the "creepy" factor, like Disney knowing how often you use the restroom, etc.

As for someone having an RFID scanner...what information do you expect they can get?

They can get:

- Passive ID #1
- Passive ID #2
- Active ID

All those IDs are just unique long strings of characters.

Your name is NOT stored in the MagicBand. Your credit card is not stored in the MagicBand. NOTHING of a personal nature is stored in the MagicBand.

So they can get that ID, if they have the right equipment (it needs to work at three different frequencies to get all 3 IDs). What can they do with it? Well, with the right equipment, they could potentially re-code a compatible programmable chip to emit the same ID. So they could:

- Enter the park with your ticket entitlements, assuming they know they can still do so (is it a park hopper? are there entitlements left?)
- Make a purchase - IF they know your PIN and it has charging privileges.
- Redeem your FP+, if they know when/where
- Find/change your FP+ selections at a kiosk and find out your first name, if there is no password required (I'm not entirely sure - I'm not aware of it)
- Get some Photopass/MemoryMaker pictures taken that wind up in your photos (and now you'll know who skimmed your ID...)
- Get in to your resort room, assuming you are staying on-site, and they know which room

Various ifs...and presumable red flags would be raised for the CMs if an ID is shown trying to do these things and can't, and if the person is using an RFID device that doesn't look right.

 

[Golf4283]

Yea the only thing that is on the magic band is a unique identifier number I believe which is then linked through Disney to their database which holds your info. Even if someone scans your band (which needs to be basically touching you) they will only have a set of digits and not much else.

 

[Golf4283]

There are plenty of people who don't like the "creepy" factor, like Disney knowing how often you use the restroom, etc.

As for someone having an RFID scanner...what information do you expect they can get?

They can get:

- Passive ID #1
- Passive ID #2
- Active ID

All those IDs are just unique long strings of characters.

Your name is NOT stored in the MagicBand. Your credit card is not stored in the MagicBand. NOTHING of a personal nature is stored in the MagicBand.

So they can get that ID, if they have the right equipment (it needs to work at three different frequencies to get all 3 IDs). What can they do with it? Well, with the right equipment, they could potentially re-code a compatible programmable chip to emit the same ID. So they could:

- Enter the park with your ticket entitlements, assuming they know they can still do so (is it a park hopper? are there entitlements left?)
- Make a purchase - IF they know your PIN and it has charging privileges.
- Redeem your FP+, if they know when/where
- Find/change your FP+ selections at a kiosk and find out your first name, if there is no password required (I'm not entirely sure - I'm not aware of it)
- Get some Photopass/MemoryMaker pictures taken that wind up in your photos (and now you'll know who skimmed your ID...)
- Get in to your resort room, assuming you are staying on-site, and they know which room

Various ifs...and presumable red flags would be raised for the CMs if an ID is shown trying to do these things and can't, and if the person is using an RFID device that doesn't look right.

-They could not get in the park. You still need fingerprint scan which if they're going to fake that they're gonna spend more money than the price of the 1 day admission anyways.

-Getting your PIN is one thing and yes it would technically be possible but once again that would take a lot of ingenuity and I'm sure Disney has a plan for fraud and unauthorized charges.

-All of your points are hinging on the fact that someone steals your magic band RFID information and then somehow transmits them to a MYW card/magic band. They can't just walk around with a random RFID card and scan it. Cast Members would hopefully be trained to immediately call attention to it.