Similar to just about every other
USB flash drive manufacturer out there,
Kingston's renditions aren't any stranger to somewhat
superfluous security layers, but the firm's latest thumb drive looks to keep your child safe by teaming up with AMBER Alert. While the kid-protecting service has already been available
via SMS, the Child ID Kit allows users to upload a smorgasbord of information about a single child including photos, birthdate, hair / eye color, contact information, nicknames, and even fields for parents to explain gaudy tattoos and embarrassing piercings that should only be divulged when searching for a missing youngster. Sporting 512MB of internal storage, password protection, and obligatory encryption, paranoid guardians can snap up one (or more) now for $29.95 apiece. Still, we're not entirely convinced this ultra-modern edition of the milk carton splash will actually help you
find missing kiddos any faster, but at least you won't be forced to go searching for their blood type at inopportune times.
[Via
Gadgets-Weblog]
posted Mar 9th 2007 1:36PM
Oh please. Give me a break. This kid abduction thing is getting out of hand. Kingston is just trying to make a quick buck of the media induced paranoia.
I Think it is a good idea. This kind of devices are going to improve security a lot. Thanks!
While I don't necessarily recommend this particular item, the concept behind it is not a bad idea. Any thoughtful parent should have all of the child's information in one location so that in case of emergency, they don't have to be searching for all the information the police want. Besides, people have been doing this in other forms for years. I remember when I was in 3rd grade or something and my parents collected my fingerprints, photo, & important information and put it all in a pill bottle in the fridge. (Central location,.. for some reason the concept was popular at the time)
Now a USB thumb drive isn't a bad idea since it's small and pretty cheap. And you wouldn't need anything big,.. 64mb would be plenty - and those are super cheap these days.
OK enough is enough. ANY flash-drive on the market can do this!!! parents save yourself some money and go to MicroCenter and grab a 1gig Flash-Drive for $10.00!!! On it you can put scanned copies of their birth certificate, fingerprints, photos, Videos, and EVERYTHING ELSE on the planet!!! And if 1gig is not enough then get a 2gig one for $16.00!!! Have more than one child, get a flash-drive for each of them! Put the Flash-Drive and a bit of their hair (Pulled not cut) into a Zip-Lock bag. Write their name on it, and it is EVERYTHING that the police will need to find your child in one easy place!
All "Specialty" flash-drives are all scams. Just grab ANY flash-drive and put what YOU want on it!
You are paying for the software it comes with, encryption suites and whatever else. Sure it may not justify the price, but it's not like they're flogging off a plain ol' regular USB flash drive.
Maybe they are including software, but someone could put PortableOpenOffice on a regular flashdrive. And just store your info using that. Or forget that and just save the pages of information as JPG files! Then it will not matter the OS or the software installed every computer could read the data! Even some DVD Players and TV's have a USB port and will display picture files.
And why do you really need encryption on a flashdrive you do not carry around with you at all time? I would think that encryption would be a hinderance here. If you encrypt the drive then you have the chance of the police not having critical information in a timly mannor. You are all stressed out about your child, and NOW you have to remember a 6 digit code in order to get the information that the police want an hour ago. I personally would rather just hand a zip lock back to the police and tell them that all the info that they want is in there. (Including hair for DNA testing)
OK, I have to concur with Tavis Veighey... While it is a good idea to have the details of your loved ones in an easy-to-remember place, is the USA so worried about kiddie-nappings that they had specifically-branded USB stick for them??!?!?
Next up: a pad and paper that is SPECIFICALLY for writing your kids' details on... A LIFE-SAVER, PEOPLE!!!! A MUST!!!! ALL responsible guardians MUST HAVE IT!!!!
Seriously though, isn't it exactly the same? Any USB stick will do, just like any pad of paper will do...
That's a cool tool..
too bad it's not original.
I saw the Amber Stick (amberstick.com) 2 years ago and it seem like they have it set.
They are endorsed by code amber, the web's amber alert portal (codeamber.org) and working directly with law enforcement to spped up Amber Alert response time.
Ayleen.
The fact that the information is stored digitally only makes for better record keeping. Law Enforcement would need to view it and re-enter the information into the FBI NCIC computers to have the child entered into the National Center for Missing and Exploited children.
Neither The Amber stick, nor CodeAmber effectively speed up the Amber Alert process as it is a decision made by LE based on a specific State's criteria. The only thing they do is to have the information possible more readily available.
A CodeAmber is simply an Internet portal for releasing alerts to their subscribers. There are others such as http://www.projectsakekids.org who historically release web based Amber Alerts well ahead of them.
You can learn more about Amber Alert issues at http://www.missingchild.wordpress.com
I just bought something like this for my cousin who is having a baby in June - seems like a cool idea and she and her husband love gadgets. I got mine online at Toys R' Us - IdentaKey was its name. I agree with Tavis that someone could really do all of this themselves - but I also buy pre sliced apples :) Sometimes it is just easier when the process is in place - and it seems like portable information is going to become the norm. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is part of the government amber alert system - or is the name/alert being used for marketing. Just a detail I am curious about - just wondering if it is something like irs.com.