Some visitors — and would-be visitors — have expressed concern. They're worried that Disney will be tracking their movements around the park, including what they do and what they buy throughout the day, and that Disney could use that information in ways that those visitors won't like.
MagicBands are the RFID-enabled bracelets that Disney's issuing to selected hotel guests as part of its new MyMagic+ system for managing Walt Disney World vacations. Visitors can use the MyMagic+ section of Disney's website or apps to make advance reservations for attractions, shows, and restaurants during their stay at Disney World, then use the MagicBands Disney supplies to access their hotel room, enter the theme parks or be admitted to their reserved ride, show, and meal times.
Visitors tap their MagicBands on their hotel room door or at checkpoints at park and attraction entrances. But the RFID chips in each MagicBand can be read from up to 30 feet away as well, as Kevin Yee detailed this week. Disney's already using that functionality to take on-ride pictures of MagicBand users on selected attractions. But inside sources have told us that the technology will play a part in creating interactive "moments" elsewhere in the parks, such as in Animal Kingdom's Avatar land, now in development.
Disney had planned to have expanded MyMagic+ to more visitors by now, but bugs and glitches as Disney attempts to scale up the system have slowed the roll-out. Yet it's clear from Disney's statements that it envisions more aggressive use of MagicBands in the future.
Let's face it: If Disney didn't track its customers while they were on company property, that would put Disney in the minority of large retail corporations. Smile for the security cameras next time you enter a store — they're there. And those discount cards you get from the grocery and other retailers? They're tracking every purchase you make.
Heck, when you carry a Visa or Mastercard credit card, you might as well be wearing a GPS device, as the card issuer is tracking the location of your payments, as well as their amounts. If you're carrying a cell phone, you are carrying a GPS device — one that cell carriers (and even the federal government) have the ability to track.
Want to go through life without being tracked? Use cash. Ditch the cell phone, the credit cards, and the discount "club" cards and carry nothing but cash. Walk up to the ticket booth and pay cash for a one-day, one-park ticket. As soon as you're through the front gate, throw that ticket away. Disney won't know who you are and won't be able to track anything you do.
Of course, that means you won't be able to use the Fastpass system for ride reservations. Nor will you be able to park-hop. Photopass pictures are out, too. But Disney will collect no data about your whereabouts and activities throughout the day, save for noting that one more (anonymous) person's ridden each ride you board, or that the company made those extra dollars for the stuff you've bought.
Most visitors, though, would like to have the opportunity to reserve no-wait ride times. Or to get on-ride photos automatically. (Or to get discounts when they go to the grocery store.) Such benefits are the price that companies pay to entice us to use systems that allow those companies to track us. Companies make that money back when their tracking efforts lead them to tailor offers or experiences that cause us to spend more money with those companies than we would have without those deals and discounts. In fact, Disney's facing lower-than-planned revenue in its theme park division now because MyMagic+ hasn't rolled out to the point where it's led to the big increases in guest spending that the company had anticipated.
If customers don't like the benefits of participating in a tracking system, they won't stick with them. Right now, the hassles of navigating MyMagic+ in beta testing have led many Disney hotel guests either to decline to participate, or to switch back to more traditional admission and room key cards, plus paper Fastpasses. But reports from in the parks suggest that's more due to people being unable to collect the benefits of MyMagic+ due to lost reservation times or dysfunctional MagicBands than to privacy concerns.
Let's not completely dismiss those concerns, though. While corporate tracking of consumer activity has become the norm in America, consumers ought to know more about who else will have access to that tracking data. We've raised concerns before about Disney cast members using MyMagic+ data as a "stalking app" to find out where individual guests they want to meet will be later in the day, then showing up off the clock to "just happen to bump into them." Disney should be making clear that anyone who tries something like that will be fired on the spot.
We've also wondered if Disney could use MagicBands to track alcohol sales more closely. Imagine getting cut off at Epcot because MyMagic+ has recorded that you've bought enough alcohol over the past couple hours to get an average-sized person to his legal limit. One of the challenges for tracking system is to ensure they don't feel creepy to the people who use them. While cutting off a drunk might be good practice (one that servers are supposed to be doing already), have a computer make that call automatically probably fails the "creepiness" test for many visitors.
Throw such concerns onto the pile of bugs, glitches, and challenges that Disney must overcome to make MyMagic+ scale to the level where it earns the company enough money to justify the billion-dollar investment. But if Disney fans and visitors object to the idea of Disney tracking their activity while on Disney property, well, they're going to have to do much more than refuse to wear a MagicBand to prevent Disney and other companies from tracking where they go and what they do.
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The fact is that Disney is already tracking people via credit cards, cameras and who knows what else before we even bring up the MM+ situation. Sure it's probably not enough to make people not go to WDW based on privacy concerns alone, but if added to the list of other negatives -- specifically the FP+ system -- then it could be enough to at least make you think twice.
Having used the MM+ bands and knowing that they ultimately plan on going with a FP+ only system, I would certainly reconsider going to WDW in the future based on just that alone. The privacy concerns would only be a cherry on top of the issues I have with MM+.
The 'beta' phase need not mean 'secretive' phase. Yet guests are pretty much in the dark as to where Disney are headed with the technology.
Perhaps if Disney were a little more open, guests may have a little more confidence in the system.
At the moment a bank card needs a PIN. Most of us are very very certain that our PIN details are extremely safe thanks to trusted bank systems.
Disney have yet to prove themselves as keepers of critical data.
To my knowledge, this is relatively new territory for them and us as park guests.
So, to answer your question, no, I am not yet convinced about the security of MyMagic+ based upon the simple concern that the system is under development and that means that there's a higher risk than normal of data going missing or being copied by contractors. That of course can include PIN data.
I agree with comments that this money could have been spent elsewhere...adding another gate to spread out the guests.
But my gut feeling is the reason Disney is sinking so much money into MB is to also market it as a product. They're already selling accessories for it and t-shirts celebrating it as if it were a new gaming system.
And to the guy that said "trusted bank systems", that was a joke right?
The Bands themselves were great to use, but arent a huge upgrade over the KTTW cards. A nice to have though. The hysteria over these things is getting to be laughable. However The reasons for it and the cost are staggering and a bit offensive. When company execs come out and say they are wilfully trying to get every penny out of you it's a bit of a kick in the pants to put it nicely. But how many of us were ever in doubt about this? Why else do they charge $5 for a ten cent pen? And why do we buy them? Because we love the characters and the Parks and the memories that are created.
I recently returned from a trip and loved it. Even my wife noticed things working that weren't previously. I have no complaints about the value for money because there has never been such a thing at WDW. If you want value for money go for a week all inclusive in Cuba where a family of 4 can stay and play and eat for $2500. IF you want what Disney sells, it's going to cost you. Just like the $179.99 I paid for a piece of luggage in the gift shop which I could have gotten at Walmart for $79.99. But hey it has a mouse and WDW written on it.
Since they put everything on Facebook and Twitter every time the Fart… Eat, Drink, nap, watch a movie, Post pictures of their breakfast, What kind of Sandals they are wearing…. I can go on…..
Disney has been allowing guests to charge to their room key (Keys to the World), which directly charges guest credit cards, for years now, so I think they have a little bit of experience keeping private data secure. That doesn't mean that they can't be hacked, but it's probably as secure as any online retailer or hotel chain that maintains credit card information for deposits/accounts. I think it might be a good idea for them to protect guests through the use of a PIN (similar to credit cards in Europe) so that potential criminals could not walk through the parks skimming and mimicing guests' MyMagic+ RFID chips and running up park charges. However, once you get off-site those RFID data are useless.
@Jeff:
The idea is that with the MagicBands, guests are likely to spend more because of more personallized experiences. Imagine how much more a kid will beg for a photo or video of a character meet and greet if that character says their name or knows they were just on a ride and asks what they thought of it. It is also theorized that because of the bands, guests will spend more becuase it will be far easier to pay for things (you won't even need to take your wallet out of your pocket or purse).
For those that are fearful of the tracking technology, you should just go off the grid and live in a cabin in northern Saskatchawan, because if you have a cell phone, internet access, e-mail, facebook, credit card, anything, you are being tracked. In fact, it was just reported the other day that the NSA collects over 5 BILLION pieces of data from cell phones every single day. Anyone with a smartphone that downloads apps, you're typically giving the creator of that app the authority to track your location and/or use. You're essentially giving Disney the same authority through the MyMagic+ system. Personally, I think anything that they want to do that can potentially make my experience better, easier, and more personalized, I'm all for that.
Safety concerns at the parks far outweigh privacy issues, as far as I'm concerned. Finding a lost kid by checking their magic Band location would be priceless. Restaurants automatically knowing my girlfriend has a shellfish allergy would be awesome.
This is very, very different from companies or the government snooping and sharing your web browsing activity.
The concern is whether they can protect my information. Many businesses have proven they can't. I have heard unverified stories from cast members of some huge mistakes. Don't know if real, but if they are, just proves they are no different than other businesses. What is different is the extreme amount of detail the DSA :-) is collecting. Yes, it probably is pretty innocent now but what will they do with it in a few years. If the NSA, with all of their motivation and resources can't protect their data, can the DSA?
In the end, it is my job to control my data. I choose to share it with Disney now. If they keep being greedy, I have other options and also ways to limit what they collect without bunkering up.
The advantage of going to the magic bands is that now Disney can expect people to make plans and reservations. While this might be an issue unto itself, at least it allows Disney to plan accordingly for the rush.
Privacy as we knew it has been gone for a long time and there is virtually no way to live "off the grid" now and seriously, 99% of the people out there have nothing to worry about and the other 1% are using an alias and not going to the Magic Kingdom...
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