Nike & iPod Security

An important announcement:
*if you want to put a picture up on the blog, make sure you have the picture's owner's permission

The Nike & iPod Security problem is old news--about 2 years old. However, it's not clear whether the security problems were ever addressed. Basically, the sensor broadcasts your information for a radius of ~60 feet.

Everyone agreed that it is best for people to expose this kind of problem before it can be exploited. That way consumers know what they're getting into, and companies can fix problems quickly.

Some new passports, drivers licenses, and credit cards have embedded RFID. This would allow private data to be visible to the government, and some large corporations... Or whoever else might have the technology to intercept the data. On the other hand, using them in nursing homes could save lives; tracking criminals on parole would help keep the public safe; parents could track their children, and make sure they got to school and home safely. But where do you draw the line between safety and invasion of privacy.

There was some debate of the role of the researchers, and the role of the companies, and in the end, the idea of having separate ethics team (for problems about is this an acceptable flaw to ship with); a hacker team (to discover the problems in the first place).

So, at the end of the day, the companies should do their best to create good products, but it is the consumers who decide whether the flaws outweigh the benefits. But the consumers must have access to information about their information is/could be used.