RFID is radio frequency identification. Basically, it is a chip that is activated by radio waves which can track your movements and send that information out to be gathered by an information storage system. Not only can the chip be programmed to provide access to an event, if programmed in a certain way it could track your movements throughout the day. Like how long you are in the pit, backstage, or on the field, at the beer stand, at the food court, in the port-a-potty, in Town Park, and possibly track you throughout the town of Telluride.
Maybe the next step is facial recognition software. Then we may find out who the face on Mars really belongs to.
Not quite. You were on the right track up through the phrase "activated by radio waves". RFID tags most certainly do not track your movements, like a Fitbit or GPS device would. It simply contains a unique code...a type of "digital barcode" that can be associated with information in the reading system's computer. The radio waves from the reading device 'power up' the tag when in close proximity, and can identify the unique code. This sends the code to the database that confirms whether or not that code is tied to an authorized individual. For the types of tags that would fit into a wristband, 3 feet is an incredibly optimistic range, and 1 foot is more likely. When not in the range of an RFID reader, the tag has no power at all and is completely passive. There IS active RFID but that uses a battery and is much much larger. Even that maxes out at around 500ft.
The only way an RFID bracelet could "track" your movements is if they required scanning in/out at every location in the festival.
Loosejello is mostly correct; I'll expand with a few details.
- We use a "passive RFID" system. The RFID tag in our wristbands is not continuously transmitting any information. It must be physically tapped against an RFID scanner to activate. At this point, the only information it passes through to the scanner is a serial number. That serial number is stored in our customer database and links to your order. The RFID tag itself does not store information like your name, address, or any other order details. Our secure database is required to be able to match your serial number to your order details. This is EXACTLY THE SAME PROCESS as scanning a barcode ticket, with the only difference being you are wearing the barcode on your wrist instead of trading in your paper ticket. The benefit to this is that your wristband, if lost, can be linked to your order. If you go on a mountain bike ride and tear your wristband off, we can remotely deactivate it and issue you a new wristband.
- As mentioned, the ONLY way to "track" location using your passive RFID bracelet would be for you to "check-in" at scanning stations throughout the festival. Some large festivals operate this way as they can benefit from having the data around which attractions are most popular. They can let sponsors know how many people visited a sponsor activation and therefore have an ROI story to tell brand partners. Planet Bluegrass IS NOT doing this, for several reasons: 1) making people scan in creates a bottleneck in pedestrian traffic. 2) Checkin stations require internet connectivity and it's not exactly easy to rely on that in Telluride/Lyons. 3) Additional scanning stations are expensive and not that beneficial for the cost. 4) We think it's creepy to know where you are and we don't want to invade your privacy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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