Nike+iPod Sports kit - Privacy risk or overblown hype  

So where's the privacy issue? The issue surrounds the fact that the transmitter uses a wireless signal to send information to the receiver. On its own that's not too bad, but the messages sent from the transmitter contain an unencrypted unique identifier specific to the transmitter which can be detected from 60 feet away, whether you want to be found or not (as long as you are moving). Because the signal from the transmitter isn't encrypted hooking up Nike+iPod receiver to a PC, gumstix computer or an iPod running Linux can allow unencrypted unique identifiers to be logged. This could allow specific individuals making use of an Nike+iPod Sports kit to the to be tracked.


Now this isn't a huge "the sky is going to fall down" privacy risk - in fact, I think that leveraging a Nike+iPod Sports kit to do evil has some pretty big drawbacks (these include range, the fact that it doesn't transmit information about where the wearer is and the fact that the user has control over turning it off). But I think the possibility that this device could be used for evil might come as a surprise to many who bought it. As users of technology we need to be aware of the possible privacy risks associated with the gear we use and recognize that product manufacturers might not have considered our privacy in their designs