RFID chips on kids makes Legoland safer

Parents taking their children to Legoland theme parks this summer need not
worry about losing little Johnny, Jesper or Johan thanks to advances in RFID
technology.
Children entering the parks will be fitted with an RFID bracelet that can be
tracked anywhere within its boundaries - meaning that should they run off
and find themselves lost, the parks' staff will easily be able to track them
down and alert parents via SMS.
The scheme launched in Denmark last month and if successful it's likely to
be seen in other amusement parks in the group - such as Legoland Windsor in
the UK.
The 'Kidspotter' scheme represents the latest in a string of innovative uses
for RFID technology. However, not everybody is convinced that Lego's motives
are as well-intentioned as the reassuring marketing for the scheme would
suggest.
Leo Steiner, vice president for on-demand sales at IBM, who works closely
with RFID, said: "Lego will now know exactly where each customer is, how
long they are spending in each area and which products are proving to be
most popular."
The knock-on effect of parents' making use of the scheme could be a more
concerted and insightfully targeted marketing campaign for the perennially
popular Lego brick toy sets.
But are privacy concerns simply a case of worrying for the sake of it? If it
means their children are safer and never truly 'out of sight', then
reciprocating with a little more marketing data is something many parents
may not begrudge.
Debbie Allen, a mother of two, told silicon.com: "When you go to these theme
parks, you tend to spend so much time trying to keep your children by your
side that they get resentful and a little frustrated. If I were given the
chance to feel a little more relaxed, I would jump at the opportunity; if
they then used the information they had for marketing then I really don't
see the harm."
As for concerns about privacy or manipulative big business taking advantage
of safety concerns, Ms Allen feels they are unfounded. "I don't think it is
manipulative," she said. "I think everyone gets something out of it. We get
to be more relaxed and they get to improve and increase revenue."
If anybody is likely to abuse the system, it will be parents who take
advantage of it to really let their children wander, according to Ms Allen.
"My major concern is that some parents might use it as a 'babysitting
service'," she said.
A spokesman for Legoland Windsor said of the Kidspotter system: "This isn't
something we're going to see in the foreseeable future but it may well be
something we look at adding beyond 2004 or 2005."
Source: Will Sturgeon www.cnet.com