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Last HOPE Tracking Meta-Data Released

Posted by Soulskill on Fri Aug 08, 2008 06:16 PM
from the little-brother-is-watching-you dept.
Privacy Technology
aestetix writes "As previously mentioned on Slashdot, hackers at the last Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference deployed an RFID tracking system to follow attendees around the conference. The system also allowed users to enter personal interests related to the convention, and served up both talk recommendations and similar people based on these interests. The first results have been posted, and the tracking data and source code have been released under the GPL." They've also made available some videos with 2-D and 3-D representations of the data.
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[+] Technology: Streamlining and Testing RFID Technology 69 comments
Multiple readers have written to let us know that an experiment at the upcoming Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference will use RFID to track the movements of at least 1,500 registrants for the duration of the conference. Those movements will be transmitted onto screens which "show in real-time where people go, with whom they associate, for how long and how often." The system will also be used for games which involve manipulation of the available data. Meanwhile, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a method for testing large quantities of RFID tags, which may serve to greatly speed distribution.
Submission: The Last HOPE Tracking Meta-Data Released by meman2000 (540531)
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  • It worked pretty well... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2008, @06:21PM (#24533235)

    But the orgy it directed me to towards the end kinda creeped me out.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You act like you've never seen two women with a polar bear before.

  • I'm supprised using RFID chips worked. I'd suspect the government would catch any hackers that had one by tracking them. Beginning of a hacker-free world? I doubt it but it's certainly a tantilizing possibility.

  • Too bad none of this worked *at the conference* (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2008, @06:25PM (#24533285)

    Seriously. HOPE is a lot of fun, but it always seems like the projects that are planned for it need an extra week or two to reach their full potential.

    They had a realtime 3D map up? Where? And where was this data available during the conference? By mid-day on Saturday when the adm.hope.net website was still messed up with broken links, etc. I gave up on the project doing anything interesting. It's neat that they got it done and are publishing the data, but the project lacked (and still lacks) the polish that I and alot of others were hoping for.

    • There was one realtime 3D map in the lobby area of the 18th floor, right in front of Turing. It was definitely there Sunday, and I think it might have been there at least part of Saturday, too. There might have been another one on the mezzanine, but I don't specifically remember it.

  • Population Density (Score:5, Funny)

    by daveime (1253762) on Friday August 08 2008, @06:31PM (#24533347)
    I would imagine most of the graphics will show a distinct concentric circle pattern, centered around the solitary female at the conference.

  • None of the RFID tags seemed to go anywhere near a shower during the conference. Clearly, this must be a bug.

  • I thought RFID was detectable only within a few feet. How are they managing to get data across an entire show area? Are there super-detectors available now, or did they just spend a lot of money to dot every square meter of the floor (or ceiling) with its own short range detector?

    • Re:at what range? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2008, @08:56PM (#24534253)

      PASSIVE RFID has a very short range. These were active RFID tags, requiring a large watch-style battery to work. It's easy to track an RFID when it's sending out its own signal. From what I saw, my tag was accurate to within around 5 feet (that is, when I was standing still in front of a monitor, I appeared to be moving around at random within about that distance).

  • I was told it was based on German rfid hacker technology. Do you have a link to more background info?

  • After reading the Last Hope website, I am confused as to why this is the "Last" Hope. they mentioned the hotel where they hold it was under threat, but then jumps straight to mentioning the Last Hope.
    Is this the last one, and why ?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by lambent (234167)

      they've actually discussed that at length on the radio shows Off the Wall, and Off the Hook. You can find links to both at the 2600 website.

      Emmanuel basically created a very thorough play on words. Right now, the "Last Hope" is the last Hope ... as in, the hope that previously happened. The next hope will be called the "Next Hope". Both names are entirely accurate now, but by the time the Next Hope comes around, it'll be incredibly confusing, by design.

      I'm surprised the 2600 guys were able to keep this

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