Mini Introduces RFID-Activated Billboards 138
frinkster writes "MINI USA has placed interactive billboards in 4 US cities (Chicago, Miami, New York and San Francisco) and invited a few hundred MINI owners in those cities to join their targeted 'advertisement' pilot program. The owners sign up on MINI's website and receive an RFID keyfob in the mail. When that MINI owner drives by the billboard, a targeted message appears. Each owner tells MINI what to show when they drive by, such as 'Jim, you are one sexy beast.' If the pilot program is successful, MINI plans to put up more billboards in more cities and allow every owner to participate. MINI swears that no personal information in contained in the keyfobs and that all communication between the MINI and the owner is subject to their privacy policy and thus the program is completely safe. But how well will they keep their billboard logs away from the prying eyes of law enforcement or private detectives? And what are they doing to prevent 'hackers' from changing the personal messages to insults, such as 'Jim, nice to see you finally emerge from your mother's basement'?" MINI calls the interactive billboards "Motherboards."
Re:What range? (Score:4, Interesting)
You get a RFID tag IN THE MAIL? (Score:3, Interesting)
This means that the billboards will display their messages whenever the MAIL DELIVERY TRUCK drives by. Nice. And I'm betting a number of tags will mysteriously get lost in the mail and end up on eBay. Other issues:
And there are too many ideas for mischievous messages... "Mini announces recall of your vehicle's braking system" for example.
Re:Fun! (Score:5, Interesting)
Fighting back with RFID readers (Score:3, Interesting)
And above all else: I want an RFID jammer! Why? BECAUSE I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!
NON-customizable message... (Score:3, Interesting)
Bleah.