Big Ski Area Is Watching You?

[riverc0il]

from the FTO news section:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/news/s ... 78508.shtm

i thought this would be an interesting topic for discussion. lots of cutting edge tech is appearing in the skiing/riding world lately. here is a gadget that tracks where you have skied on a given day. it lets you see on a map where you skied so you can "prove it" :shock: :roll: um, yea. if you need to "prove" you skied something, chances are you didn't ski it very well, have way to big of an ego for the sport (my opinion), or have friends with a reason to disbelieve you. i only specifically point out the "prove it" aspect because winter park's campaign specifically references it.

digressing (perhaps?), while this seems like a fun way for rich folks or families to drop a few bills on a keep sake that proves they skied a double black diamond that they can show their friends, how about the implications of a ski area being able to track where and when guests are at all times? will this lead to improved guest services? or ski patrol sitting at the bottom of the run you just ducked into :lol:

okay, you wouldn't duck into something with a tracking device intentionally. but there is technology currently in development and in some places implementation that places 'tags' within things. theoretically, a ski area could tag something like a lift ticket and track your movements throughout the day. their right perhaps since you are buying the priveldge to ski on someone else's property, doesn't seem like that's the soul of skiing to me. seems like that is big corporate homogenization brother wanting to know every detail about you including where you are. i guess that is just the privacy advocate speaking up inside me

specifically i am not referring to this actually technology which may or may not be used for tracking (it's primary purpose doesn't seem to be), but rather the implications of technology going further in that direction.

your thoughts?

 

[Admin]

That's actually been done for years at ski areas using various scanning or other electronic lift ticket validation systems (Ski Data, etc.). It lets ski areas track lift usage to determine where/when a new lift might be needed, and the type of terrain accessed by that lift, amongst other things.

 

[riverc0il]

yup, for sure. but this tech seems to pin point the exact location of a skier, not just lift use patterns based on a scan at the bottom of the lift, which is slightly different. i always kinda got annoyed at the scanning of tickets as well, for the record.

 

[JimG.]

RFD technology is starting to come online in the retail industry and I would look for that technology to explode within the next 5 years. Planting an RFD tag in a lift ticket is just one of many ways RFD can be used to track/account for things including skiers and where they go. Clothing manufacturers could plant them in ski clothes to see where their products go; skis and boots too.

Whether or not RFD is used for tracking skiers and where they go is unclear at this point, but it is certainly a possible use. I've heard folks go on about EZ pass being used to track driving habits and to ticket speeders by calculating speed based on time between entry/egress from a highway, but that technology has never been used for that purpose, at least not yet.

If ski areas are so concerned with where I am at any given time, so be it...it won't ruin the experience for me because I won't let it. But, I would be annoyed if I decided to ski something off the map and got in trouble because I was being "watched".

 

[mergs]

RFD technology is starting to come online in the retail industry and I would look for that technology to explode within the next 5 years. Planting an RFD tag in a lift ticket is just one of many ways RFD can be used to track/account for things including skiers and where they go. Clothing manufacturers could plant them in ski clothes to see where their products go; skis and boots too.

Whether or not RFD is used for tracking skiers and where they go is unclear at this point, but it is certainly a possible use...

uh, oh... that would mean one day, all secret stashes will be mapped out fully using RFID in the lift pass. so, buy a pass and lose your stash or skin up and earn it, and keep it secret. :shock:

just kidding of course.

 

[JimG.]

just kidding of course.

Even though you are just kidding, one of the real problems with RFD is that outsiders can track the tags if they find out the frequencies used in the tag. Considering thieves steal credit card info and other personal data all the time, how hard would that be? Scanners to read the info are not that hard to come by.

So, it is possible that an enterprising poacher bent on outing your secret stashes could track you if you wore a lift ticket with RFD and pinpoint exactly where you are.

 

[yak]

We need to have these imbedded in darts. Then you can just shoot one at the A-holes who hit & run, and track 'em like the dogs they are! :wink:

 

[Geoff]

We need to have these imbedded in darts. Then you can just shoot one at the A-holes who hit & run, and track 'em like the dogs they are! :wink:

Why waste a perfectly good dart when buckshot would do? 8)

 

[Jonny D]

This seems to me to be the typical tech debate: we have the ability to use our powers for good (satisfying the statistical queries of Tony, Franko etc..., potentially improving the area based on how the data) or for bad (revealing stashed, catching poachers, etc...)

My 2cents:
If resorts start using the tech for bad, we'll stop going there. The resort loses money when people don't show up. Then they stop. And we go back.

The only real downfall to that scenario is if the vast majority of resorts use RFID/GPS for bad all at once. Then we have no choice (at least, not in Ontario...)

 

[ski_adk]

The other thing to consider about good vs. bad intentions is the herd mentality of the average consumer. Most people seem to be so brain-washed into following along with the latest fad, that they don't care what the implications might be.

 

[skifree]

Are those the same things that they use to find people that are stuck in tree wells? It seems like that would be good but its pretty stupid that they can track your every move.