http://gigaom.com/2014/01/18/you-dont-want-your-privacy-disney-and-the-meat-space-data-race/
See my Disney Photography at...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rt_images/
DVC owner since 2002 BCV/BWV/BLT/VGC
Wow. 
Gotta admit that is creepy....I am going now to delete unnecessary apps on my iPhone and iPad!
Wow very interesting and a little scary.
The author exaggerated a little bit. They don't use the magicbands to have a character come greet you in line. They don't use it to communicate to the character that's it your birthday.
The system is not fully implemented yet. They don't even have all the infrastructure in place. But they are positioning themselves to mine the hell out of all the data. The magic bands ARE NOT for guest convenience. Guest convenience is a by- product.
Disney is in harvest mode. They have built this treemendous customer base. They will concentrate efforts increasingly on squeezing more out of the existing customer base.
See my Disney Photography at...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rt_images/
DVC owner since 2002 BCV/BWV/BLT/VGC
I used to be an event planner and many conferences we did implanted an RFID tag on the badge to monitor traffic flow. The scanners were everywhere. Food vendors , bathroom doors, escalators, etc. it's market research, plain and simple.
I agree it can be creepy, but didn't they already do this to an extent with the key to the world cards?
I used to be an event planner and many conferences we did implanted an RFID tag on the badge to monitor traffic flow. The scanners were everywhere. Food vendors , bathroom doors, escalators, etc. it's market research, plain and simple.I agree it can be creepy, but didn't they already do this to an extent with the key to the world cards?
Maybe, but when my family traveled to WDW, my mom or myself would keep everyone's KTWC on their person. So, if it had an RFID tag, it would not technically be accurate because the card holder may or may not be carrying the card. This is totally marketing for Disney in order to make more money. I mean, that's a given. Is Disney being creepy? Meh. It doesn't bother me per say, but I don't think they need to know about my bowel movements while at the park.
I find the other info in the article to be disturbing especially when using apps that may have access to information from your phone. Makes me wonder whether or not I should even have an Iphone/ipad.....
It doesn't bother me per say, but I don't think they need to know about my bowel movements while at the park.
That made me laugh Eeyore! 
I'm sure the marketers would work with that data somehow though.
Whilst I can see this coming across as a little intrusive, you've already given Disney permission to have all sorts of info about you when you get these tags. It's your door key, park entry, you need no money to purchase inside the park and they're personalised, so they already know who you are, where you're from, how many are with you, what credit card you're using to pay for things etc...it's a given that they'll use this info to tailor their marketing toward you and, in an ideal world, should be using any 'bonus' info like bowel movements (!) or queuing time to improve services within the park, even down to what attractions might be inline for the axe or what foods are not popular and vice versa so that they can make the line entertainment better. Things like the queue for Toy Story Midway Mania can be monitored more accurately than giving someone (me, last year!) a marker and then trying to time how long the marker takes to get to the front, as people stop to look at Potato Head tell back jokes and/or take pictures.
One of my colleagues is using this system for the first time when he's over in the next month and he's well excited by the prospect of not having to carry anything other than a camera with him. He's as big a Disney buff as I've seen on here and seems completely undeterred by the more sinister aspects of the band (if he's even stopped to think about them!) I'll ask him how he got on with it when he's back.
It's unlikely that I'll use the magic bands in future visits as I don't stay on property - I stay down at one of the resorts about 20 minutes drive away from site, so can imagine it'll be the card I used when I was last there.
Yes, that's me in the profile pic...kudos for guessing the movie...
It's unlikely that I'll use the magic bands in future visits as I don't stay on property - I stay down at one of the resorts about 20 minutes drive away from site, so can imagine it'll be the card I used when I was last there.
Everyone will be using them soon, whether you are on property or not, they are supposed to totally get rid of the hard cards.
Let the Mouse watch, I got nothing to hide!
Sid Man wrote:
It's unlikely that I'll use the magic bands in future visits as I don't stay on property - I stay down at one of the resorts about 20 minutes drive away from site, so can imagine it'll be the card I used when I was last there.Everyone will be using them soon, whether you are on property or not, they are supposed to totally get rid of the hard cards.
Let the Mouse watch, I got nothing to hide!
exactly!!!
Member of the 6 castle club and working to pay for my next Disney vacations: 1/5-10/18, September 2018 for my 50th and 2018 the year of Disney cruising.
The KTTW card was capable of enabling room entry, park access, and charging privileges. So magic bands are something more. Tracking and manipulation. Some people don't mind being tracked and manipulated, some do. I honestly don't know how I feel about it, but I have a few thoughts.
I understand that Disney is a for profit business, believe me. And I'm not saying this is anything sinister. But it is no longer enough to pay an exorbitant amount for a vacation and just have a good time. Now we will pay an exorbitant amount for a vacation and our activities and spending will be monitored in an attempt to get even more out of us at almost every moment.
You don't mind being tracked because you have nothing to hide. We'll see if you feel the same way when you are treated differently at the park, because you don't have a preferred spending or activity profile.
Disney paid $3 billion and counting for this system. I wonder if the money would have been better spent on first class attractions, like HP caliber rides. Would that have made the parks more attractive, enjoyable and ultimately, more profitable? We don't have a say in it, but would you rather have more rides or a fifth gate, or a band around your wrist?
See my Disney Photography at...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rt_images/
DVC owner since 2002 BCV/BWV/BLT/VGC
The KTTW card was capable of enabling room entry, park access, and charging privileges. So magic bands are something more. Tracking and manipulation. Some people don't mind being tracked and manipulated, some do. I honestly don't know how I feel about it, but I have a few thoughts.I understand that Disney is a for profit business, believe me. And I'm not saying this is anything sinister. But it is no longer enough to pay an exorbitant amount for a vacation and just have a good time. Now we will pay an exorbitant amount for a vacation and our activities and spending will be monitored in an attempt to get even more out of us at almost every moment.
You don't mind being tracked because you have nothing to hide. We'll see if you feel the same way when you are treated differently at the park, because you don't have a preferred spending or activity profile.
Disney paid $3 billion and counting for this system. I wonder if the money would have been better spent on first class attractions, like HP caliber rides. Would that have made the parks more attractive, enjoyable and ultimately, more profitable? We don't have a say in it, but would you rather have more rides or a fifth gate, or a band around your wrist?
Well said. I couldn't agree more.
Really interesting perspective from that article.
My family is usually fairly protective of our privacy, but I guess I look at it this way.. I sold my soul to Disney a LONG time ago - I sold the souls of my children and husband to boot. I'd probably let Disney implant a little subdermal mouse shaped tracking device in my wrist if they wanted to. 
Well I understand about not wanting my every movement tracked but that way seems to be all around us not just at Disney. if you do anything on the internet and you have a cell phone do you think that 'big brother' isn't watching? So I look at it this way it stinks and shouldn't be but I used the MagicBands this past October and i will be using them again in May and I say it made my life so much easier...didn't need to worry about where the card was or scramble to get the important fp as soon as i got to the park (as that is all I use that for) and many times when I got there there was none available for the day or it was so late at night it didn't work. So tracking is bad I totally agree but it is a way of life. Again not right but it is what it is. And even before the magic bands when you used your keycard if tied your credit card to it don't you think they were tracking you? I do...every time I used it to enter a park and/or buy anything. And if you did ADR don't you think they knew where you were and when? Maybe I'm just too accepting.
Well that is my 2 cents on the magicbands and Disney.
[url='http://www.mickeypath.com/']
[/url]
