CES 2008 going RFID

Betcha didn't think our CES 2008 coverage would begin over five months prior to the magical event itself, but once we receive that email inviting us to register, it's game on as far as we're concerned. And speaking of the registration process, we happened to notice a little addendum at the bottom of this year's form that reads:

"Please note that an RFID tag will be imbedded in your registration badge and will not contain any personal data but only an identification number. The ID number and their related data collected during CES will be used for internal purposes only by Show Management and will not be sold, bartered or traded."

In other words, since vendors and journalists alike have never really taken to those swipe cards meant to gauge booth attendance, the Consumer Electronics Association has decided to track us more efficiently by making it a passive affair -- ensuring that the hours we spend "working" at the international food court will be well documented. Actually we're not all that worried about having our movements tracked as long as the data is used anonymously to tease out certain aggregate trends, and not available for Intel to find out that we spent way more time with the folks from AMD. However, some of our colleagues may not be as childishly trusting as we are, so for all the paranoid techies out there, the CEA has thoughtfully given attendees the option to opt out of the program. We'll be sure to bring you a hands on with the ID's when the time comes, along with documenting the confusion that ensues after we strap our own badges to a family of small mice, release them into South Hall, and completely wig out the computers furiously attempting to monitor the roaming nerd herds.

Update: As several readers have helpfully pointed out, the tags will likely be of the high-frequency, short-range variety -- perfect for handheld readers at the booths, but probably incapable of detecting the fact that one unnamed Engadget editor spends an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 30th 2007 1:23PM]

I would try to attach mine to a roving maintenance cart or something similar.
The underside of a rolling trashcan would be good too.

I'm not so much for defeating it, but watching it chase it's tail could be entertaining.

[bombastinator @ Jul 30th 2007 1:28PM]

temptation: Get an RFID flasher, and make everyone's number the same.

"well we only had 30 guys here but one of em was AMAZING!"

[bombastinator @ Jul 30th 2007 1:32PM]

Temptation #2: If you have a booth there that's dying, and you want to make it look like you have good foot traffic, put the sensor for your booth in front of the bathroom.

"Almost everyone visited their booth, sometimes more than once, spending at least three minutes. It was especially popular with women since they spent significantly longer"

[surKaz @ Jul 30th 2007 2:01PM]

HA-Wait!..Hmm... That could actually be a good idea.. I could walk about distributing free lemonade laced with Laxatives.. SUPER STRONG LAXATIVEs!.. That would make me popular... SUPER POPULAR!!!

[bombastinator @ Jul 30th 2007 3:00PM]

Super poopular anyway...

It would have to be a last ditch thing. Like if they were thinking of not inviting you back next year because your numbers were low or something.

Me I'm still hoping someone does it anyway. IMHO RFID is a toxic technology and should be thwarted whenever possible.

That and it would be pretty funny.

[MegaZone @ Jul 30th 2007 1:49PM]

You have to start early with CES - I registered as soon as I got the email that the registration was up, and then I immediately booked my hotel.

If you wait you end up staying across town and/or paying through the nose. ;-)

[thegimp @ Jul 30th 2007 2:28PM]

Just move to Vegas. I don't have to worry about booking rooms, of course I am staying across town.

[Stan Winstone @ Jul 30th 2007 2:18PM]

And people thought Minority Report was too forward looking. We'll be getting retina scanned advertising by 2010.

[Nathan @ Jul 30th 2007 3:07PM]

Chances are they will be passive high frequency tags so people tracking would prove to be difficult. They will probably use hand held readers which need to be withing a couple feet to read tags.

[bombastinator @ Jul 30th 2007 3:04PM]

that could be handy if they're counting per booth attendance. They only want to count people who actually stop at a booth, so they put the sensor back a foot or so and only count the people who come right up to the table.

[Dan @ Jul 30th 2007 2:58PM]

Just put in my press registration this morning. Sure - I'll do the RFID thing. It'll give me something to dissect after the convention.

[blore40 @ Jul 30th 2007 3:19PM]

SAP Teched 2002 had done this. If you stood in front of a kiosk, your registered classes would show up.

[RT @ Jul 30th 2007 3:23PM]

These badges have been in use at the RFID conferences for a few years now. They are usually HF tags which means they can only be read at about 3-4 inches away. In the past they have used this to keep a log of who visited what booths so the vendors can follow up with you afterwards. Its pretty obvious if someone scans your tag because they basically have to hold a reader up to it.

[Rob Hephner @ Jul 30th 2007 5:07PM]

That statement about not selling the info seems to be a lie.

Every year I have had a booth at CES I have paid to get the info from the swipe cards.

Does that mean this year the info will be given away for free???

[ketel1 @ Jul 31st 2007 10:50AM]

no, it means you'll pay more for the info b.c its RFID now!

[Barry @ Jul 31st 2007 11:27AM]

Please don't bring back memories of the food court and the $3 i spent on a single apple there or the hour line for starbucks.

[Skewed_Head @ Aug 1st 2007 12:46PM]

Hello From South Africa!!..i see Big Brother slowly be creepin into everybody's lives.
It would be interesting to think of applications to use the data they collect at runtime. e.g If (Male (ID.Postion ) = Female (Id. Position) = Bathroom.Position..then some people are really enjoying the conference-)) But then again with all the Geeks up there i doubt such a scenario would happen..

[Jesse @ Aug 1st 2007 12:58PM]

Hey awesome! I'm glad events like CES are helping in the fight to make people more comfortable with being tracked and identified everywhere they go. If you want to help, embed your children with RFID, and make sure to take them to DisneyLand to get their fingerprints taken! This way, when they are teenagers, they won't think its odd when the police scan their prints for no apparent reason. Keep your family out of trouble, join the surveillance revolution!