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JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

blipsystems.com

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Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#71

Post by fma »

spigoon wrote: post #31
RobotCaleb wrote: post #12

Of what use is this information to the people standing in line? "Oh, it's 30 minutes. I guess I'll hurry."

In Austin's airport there are several security lines that you can choose from. Each line shows its average wait time as well as the average wait time for the other lines. It's helpful to be able to see that the lines closest to you is 20 minutes but the line just down the terminal is only 5 minutes.

Same in Atlanta. Also, if the main security is backed up and the other security areas are faster, there will actually be an employee directing passengers to the faster one.

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#72

Post by vigneshv_psg »

ISL wrote: post #69
vigneshv_psg wrote: post #67

I am just curious. Wouldn't it be more easier to do this with specific devices than using the phones? Each passenger can be given a smart card along with the boarding pass (or embedded in the boarding pass). The sensors could merely check for the smart card at certain points and determine how long it took for the passenger to clear security, etc. The airline can then collect the smart card back just before boarding w…

It's not easier than using a thing they already have.

yes, but using a thing they already have comes with privacy concerns. it also depends on their wifi/bluetooth being in "discoverable" mode.

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#73

Post by [deleted] »

omouse wrote: post #55
forgottenpass wrote: post #45

When a device passes the beacons, its non-personal unique ID—called a MAC address—is recorded, encrypted and time-stamped. Blip, you make me laugh. You know this will raise privacy concerns and say the sweet nothings that placate the general public, but inspire no confidence in people who know what those words mean. I'm not here to say that as a JFK traveler I'm unhappy with the privacy considerations. I just want to…

Aren't MAC addresses supposed to be globally unique? That's the most personal it can get, right?

[deleted]

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#74

Post by misnome »

forgottenpass wrote: post #45

When a device passes the beacons, its non-personal unique ID—called a MAC address—is recorded, encrypted and time-stamped. Blip, you make me laugh. You know this will raise privacy concerns and say the sweet nothings that placate the general public, but inspire no confidence in people who know what those words mean. I'm not here to say that as a JFK traveler I'm unhappy with the privacy considerations. I just want to…

I was under the impression that iOS devices now use a random MAC address when searching for WiFi access points - so although you could still make estimates, at least based on people not using iPhones, wouldn't this alleviate the privacy issues?

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#75

Post by digi_owl »

mikeash wrote: post #52
digi_owl wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IF you look at airport security, it is always about fighting the last war. The limitation on liquids comes a lone bomber bringing a liquid binary explosive onboard in the toiletry. the issue with shoes, again another bomber. matching luggage to passengers i believe is because of Lockerbie. And the list goes on and on.

If you're in a position to make these decisions, your career will be wrecked if an attack is repeated successfully, but you'll probably be just fine if a new attack gets through.

Sounds somewhat like a inverse Lucas Critique...

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#76

Post by dperfect »

forgottenpass wrote: post #45

When a device passes the beacons, its non-personal unique ID—called a MAC address—is recorded, encrypted and time-stamped. Blip, you make me laugh. You know this will raise privacy concerns and say the sweet nothings that placate the general public, but inspire no confidence in people who know what those words mean. I'm not here to say that as a JFK traveler I'm unhappy with the privacy considerations. I just want to…

I understand the concern, but isn't your face effectively just as personally identifiable, recorded in far more locations, and arguably much more personal because it can't be easily replaced/changed?

That doesn't make either situation okay for privacy-conscious people like you and I, but I personally feel like MAC address tracking is a relatively minor concern when it comes to privacy.

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#77

Post by beamatronic »

amenod wrote: post #21

I wonder how long before they can do the same with cameras? A bit of computer vision and you have more complete data... Not sure if there is still need for better completeness though.

September 29, 2003

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/29/nation/na-facescan29

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#78

Post by forgottenpass »

codeaken wrote: post #17
MasterScrat wrote: post #6

From http://www.blipsystems.com/indoor-sensor/ : > When a device passes the sensors, its non-personal unique ID, called a MAC address, is recorded, encrypted and time-stamped. By re-identifying the device from multiple sensors, travel times, average speeds, dwell times and movement patterns become available. Aren't MAC addresses spoofed on most phones now?! I didn't expect a system like that to still be usable.

> "non-personal unique ID" Isn't that quite contradictionary?

Isn't that quite contradictionary?

Yep. It sure is. Know how spammers that don't run afoul of the CAN-SPAM act get really salty when you call their spam spam? The is the same sort of wordsmithing. By arguing that this identifiable information doesn't fall into the the "personal" bucket, they want the public to think what they're doing is A-OK.

They use weasel language to suggest following a standard of what "personal" data is means everything on the "not-personal" side is perfectly normal operation the consumer doesn't have to worry about. All while trying to derive as much personal information as possible from the not-technically-personal data.

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#79

Post by dragonwriter »

jessaustin wrote: post #68
rayiner wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like we didn't have airport security lines before the TSA. And with the new millimeter wave machines I'm not sure if they're appreciably slower than the old metal detector setup. The bottleneck was always putting your luggage through the X-ray, and we've had that for as long as I can remember.

When I was flying in continental USA on a weekly basis in 1998-99, security lines were seldom a problem. On more than one occasion, I parked my car in the DIA short-term lot (client was paying) 20 minutes before flight time. Gate agents would wag their fingers, and I'd be breathing hard when I got aboard, but I never missed a plane because of it. Also when I forgot to stash my pocketknife in my carry-on bag I just pl…

If you think it was a joy to fly then, you should have seen it before the security measures adopted around the time of the 1990-1991 Gulf War and associated perception that Iraq would target US flights for terrorist attacks.

Re: JFK Displays Actual Wait Times Using Beacons That Monitor Mobile Phones

#80

Post by hammock »

vigneshv_psg wrote: post #67

I am just curious. Wouldn't it be more easier to do this with specific devices than using the phones? Each passenger can be given a smart card along with the boarding pass (or embedded in the boarding pass). The sensors could merely check for the smart card at certain points and determine how long it took for the passenger to clear security, etc. The airline can then collect the smart card back just before boarding w…

I've seen this done in airports before, only using a plain laminated card that you carry through the line - the low-tech solution. The card was used by the TSA to internally track wait times
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