Last weekend at New York Comic - Con , a destiny of attendant get themselves tweeting ecstatically about the convening — without having written those tweet , because NYCC had hijack hoi polloi ’s societal media story that were linked to their badges . In this open letter , the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains why that ’s flagitious .
Top image : Santos “ Grim Santo ” Gonzalez
devout comic / sci - fi / phantasy / etc . convention organizers :
You may have read about thegalactic frack - up at New York Comic - Conlast week , in which one C of convention - departer learned that NYCC was posting hideously uncreative , gratuitously joyful promotional tweet from their personal Twitter accounts . As a conventionality organizer yourself , these tweets and the after trollful complaints may have filled up your feed . incubus of similar Porto Rico disasters may have ( should have ) have hold your essence racing as you hear to sleep .
NYCC attendee reach us to expect what can be done about it , and that ’s why I adjure you today to cerebrate thoroughly through future attempts to jimmy technology against the fandoms , particularly when it fare to connect convention badges to personal information , let in location .
Here ’s what happened , according toPolygon :
Within hr of the show opening its doors , member of the press , master and meeter strike that their Twitter business relationship were mechanically send off out messages praising the show . Among those whose account tweeted without their noesis were my own , IGN ’s Greg Miller , Ai n’t It Cool News ’ Harry Knowles , Attract Mode ’s Matt Hawkins and , harmonize to Twitter , hundreds of others .
The pre - indite tweets — more than 500 of them — were sent out on account shortly after the doors opened . They admit the phrases “ So much pop cultivation to support ! Ca n’t . handle . the . awesome . # NYCC , ” “ I ca n’t get enough # NYCC ! ” and “ So much to see , so much to do ! # NYCC 2013 I lie with you ! ”
Unsurprisingly , fans at NYCC had enough of these promotional tweet as soon as the con started . Polar . Opposite . Of . amazing . plain , when attendees activated their RFID - enable badges , they unintentionally granted NYCC ’s organizers — ReedPOP — the power to post tweet on their behalf . According toKotaku(and others ) , NYCC has since apologized for being “ too enthusiastic in our messaging and eagerness to spread the good watchword about NYCC , ” and shut down the programme .
https://kotaku.com/new-york-comic-con-thought-itd-be-smart-to-hijack-atte-1443871300
Being too enthusiastic is only one issue . Regardless of the messaging , spectre tweets are at best tacky , at worst creepy , and always unneeded . If there ’s one thing you’re able to count on from geek conventioneers : they will tweet like Judge Dredd throw away body — without any assistance . Even more problematic is that if even journalists such asJill Scharr , for whom words are their support , were unaware they were granting that sort of authority over their online role , then NYCC did not do an adequate job of making its intentions clear . As a result , NYCC has tainted the safe spaces that these gather are to many a eccentric person .
There ’s another constituent deserving addressing as well when it comes to safe place . Newsaramaexplained in detail how NYCC is using RFID chipped badge to ensure only paying meeter get in the threshold . The badge are designed to uniquely identify attendees and , accord to NYCC :
That data call for through RFID technology includes , for instance , how many Fans enter NYCC , the appointment and clock time of their visit , the number of times they enter and outlet and which entrances or passing they expend . This entropy may be used for internal use to aid make NYCC a good experience for everyone .
Social - media activating of the badge was optional ; in exchange , an attendant received a cluster of destitute electronic comics and , in the words of NYCC , unlocked “ a whole fresh stage of awesomeness . ” But it also entail that a lot more personal information beyond your name were distinguish with the badge . While this class it was just about identification , a ReedPOP executive told Newsarama that much heavy plans are on the visible horizon :
“ This year is about successful implementation of NYCC ID . Once that is done , the pick are pretty limitless of how we might use the engineering to amend the experience for our fans . ”
“ Limitless ” is not a parole we like to see relate with locational tracking . There should absolutely be limits . Newsarama ’s piece discusses the possibility of 1 - to-1 soul tracking , a technology that could theoretically allow a restrainer to watch say , Stan Lee , as he make his rounds along a convention floor . That , indeed , would be an astonishing development for the pop - culture - razzi , but only if Stan the Man agree to it himself . And by “ agree , ” we mean a fully - inform permission , not the blurry consent that happened this twelvemonth with Twitter access .
What we do n’t need to see is massive tracking using RFID chips ( or any other easily trackable or hackable technology ) in badges , whether that ’s existent - clock time trailing or require check - ins at every panel entranceway . patently , these are very public events and an attendee ca n’t expect a lot of privacy — they’re likely to kill up in the background of hundreds of photographs post to social media . At the same metre , there is a sure anonymity in crew , and it ’s an namelessness built into the culture of cons .
How many fans would steer clean of controversial graphic novel or manga tables ( or even cheesy guilty childhood pleasures ) if they have sex someone was create a logarithm of every stall where they tarry ? recall about the immature LGBT creative person who have yet to come out to their parent , but are rule the courage through sitting in the back of a gay funnies venire . Would they still enter if they had to scan their personally identifiable badge at the threshold ? Once you reach the gate to this technology for third - party marketing , businesses outside the formula hall will be capable to get over your attender . Wo n’t that cool the tradition of proudly put on a badge every moment , from the pre - preview night happy hr to the last after party ?
And what about thecosplayers ? What about protecting their secret identities ?
https://gizmodo.com/the-absolute-best-cosplay-from-new-york-comic-con-2013-1445082495
Any good formula can be measured by the superheroes and supervillains , golem and road warriors , zombies and zoo animals , roam the flooring in elaborate costume . While they ’re in uniform , these cosplayers shift identities and become Deadpool , Princess Breakfast , or a steampunk Dalek . And they should be able to retain those identities . They should not have to involuntarily wear a poker chip broadcasting personal information and they should not be tracked , which in itself creates identifiable information . At EFF , we ’ve argued that , with locational data point , whether it ’s license dental plate reader or GPS trailing , all you need is a few data points about a someone ’s whereabouts to determine very personal things about them .
Similarly , if you have someone ’s name and a few places they were in a given period of time , you may easily determine that the brilliant Twilight Sparkle from My lilliputian Pony Friendship is Magic is in reality Alfred Merkowitz from Beatrice , Nebraska .
Some of this may be unavoidable as pattern , like all things , accommodate and experimentation with unexampled engineering . However , as an personal organizer , you do need to ego - bring down limits . Here a few privacy principles you might count :
If you must lumber data on users to protect admission to the locus , fix it to the entrance and release , not to individual room or the exposition hall .
Allow user to register public - face alter egos , whether that ’s the name on the front of a badge , or on the RFID chip or barcode that will be scanned by organizers and vendors .
Do not use tracking engineering , such as cubicle - sound pinging , RFID trailing , or facial recognition . Further , in your vendor / attendee correspondence , prohibit third - party use of these mass data collection technologies in the convention center .
No personal data should be stored longer than is necessary to render the optimal attendee experience , with the exception of the basic point necessitate for registration renewal . If you hoard location data for dealings - flow rate analysis , this information should be fully disunite from identities of the badge holders .
Be crystal exculpated in your privateness concord and term what you will and wo n’t pile up and how masses can opt out . If a journalist pretermit it , you ’ve buried it too deep in the fine photographic print .
obviate using technologies that can be accessed or exploited by third - parties with no affiliation with the rule .
Again , do n’t post cognitive content through your attender social media accounts . They ’re buff , not Borg .
As you move forward , you should drudge yourself in the ideal presented by Alternative Press Expo , the indie - centric little comrade to San Diego Comic - Con that also ran last weekend . No microprocessor chip . No fake tweets . The badges were evidently previous card stock hang up at the end of metallic element beaded string .
you may still have a convention at the cutting sharpness of cultivation , without bleeding your attender ’ privateness aside .
This subject letteroriginally appeared at the EFF website . republish by permission .
Civil LibertiesNew York Comic ConSocial media
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