Nike + iPod Sport Kit can be tracking device

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Time Magazine nominated the Nike + iPod Sport Kit as the 2006 Gadget of the Year.

It sells for about $29, and since its release earlier this year, about 450,000 of the Nike + iPod Sport Kits have been sold. It consists of a quarter-sized tranceiver which slips into your shoe, and beams data to your iPod such as distance travelled, speed, heart rate, and even calories burned, but this very technological marvel can also be used as a hi-tech tracking device using a couple simple wireless receivers, GPS positioning software, and Google Maps.

University of Washington grad student Scott Stepanos set up a small network of home-made wireless receivers around the University of Washington campus and was very easily able to track Nike + iPod Sport Kit users.

Although the Sport Kit can be used as a tracking device, gadgets guru Patrick McGraw of Pelarious.com says that consumers should not really be overly concerned about this, as the sport kit tranceiver itself only has a range of about 60 feet, and does not hold or send any data about one's identity, credit card numbers, address, etc -- it only identifies the user as a unique number, and sends data to the iPod such as distance travelled, speed, and calories burned.

McGraw goes on to say that while the Nike + iPod Sports Kit itself is not much to be concerned about, the fact that the information is able to be tracked so easily with simple over-the-counter parts, does signal a bit of apprehension about the potential for misuse of new developing technologies such as Near Field Communications (NFC), and RFID, which will soon be used in credit cards, passports, and national identity cards.