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View Full Version : Wired: Nike+ IPod = Surveillance


Suhit Gupta
12-02-2006, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72202-0.html?tw=rss.index' target='_blank'>http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72202-0.html?tw=rss.index</a><br /><br /></div><i>"If you enhance your workout with the new Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, you may be making yourself a surveillance target. A report from four University of Washington researchers to be released Thursday reveals that security flaws in the new RFID-powered device from Nike and Apple make it easy for tech-savvy stalkers, thieves and corporations to track your movements. With just a few hundred dollars and a little know-how, someone could even plot your running routes on a Google map without your knowledge. The Nike+ iPod gives runners real-time updates about the speed and length of their workouts via a small RFID device that fits into the soles of Nike shoes, and broadcasts workout data to a small receiver plugged into an iPod Nano. While this setup sounds convenient and cool, it didn't sit well with Scott Saponas, a computer science graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. After enjoying his Nike+ iPod for a few months, Saponas began to suspect there might be other, more nefarious uses for the gear."</i><br /><br />Interesting that there would be a security/privacy vulnerability like this. Shouldn't the creators of this technology have thought about pairing devices over a secure and excrypted connection?!

igreen
12-02-2006, 05:13 PM
This one doesn't worry me too much. First, they have to be within 60 feet to get the signal. Seems like a lot of trouble to use to stalk someone. You pretty much already have to know where they are going to be beforehand. Now what does creep me out is tracking by cellphone. That won't require being within 60 feet of the person you are stalking.

EscapePod
12-02-2006, 11:15 PM
I agree that its not practical for anyone to track you due to the range. However, I'm still surprised that the range is as much as 60 feet. I don't know anyone with body dimensions (between upper arm and foot) that long that would require such a tranmission range --- not even Shaq!