This winter, Vail Resorts will begin embedding radio frequency ID technology in ski passes for a new tracking system at Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail.
Is this just another Big Brother intrusion or an amazing new convenience? The answer, we think, will depend on user-friendly controls that allow the individuals being tracked to have a real say in how information about them is used.
The system works like this: Ski passes are embedded with the ID technology. When users pass through a scanner, their location is tracked. Vail says the scanners will be located at lifts and will allow users to track days on the mountain and vertical feet traversed.
Furthermore, users could choose to connect with others via social media such as Facebook to see which of their friends are on the mountain on any given day.
Such social media uses seem harmless enough, and have opt-in provisions. And Vail Resorts officials say users could punch out the radio frequency ID chips if they don’t want to be tracked. Good to know, especially as other resorts, including Telluride, contemplate adopting such systems.
If technology has brought us to a place where even one’s comings and goings at a ski mountain can be tracked and fed into a vast information infrastructure for purposes as diverse as marketing and socializing, then we’re only going see more of it.
The issue is important to think about because the radio frequency ID technology could potentially be used for a host of other purposes.
What if a resort decided to use the technology to flag those who speed through slow zones? What if a ski resort decided to share your information and recreational habits with marketing partners?
Would a user consider it intrusive if marketers were able to use your recreational habits in combination with biographical information to sell you products and services via your cellphone?
Perhaps not, but we would guess some would. The key is for resorts to be forthright about how they will use such information, and vigilant about system security and careful about marketing uses.
Paramount, we think, is giving people a real chance to opt out — and not via some difficult procedure that is spelled out in microscopic print written in impenetrable legal language.
Frankly, it is in their own interest to do so. As resorts compete not just with each other but with many other recreational opportunities, particularly here in Colorado, it would behoove them to keep in good stead with their customers.
No one would take it kindly if they felt a resort was selling them out.
It is also incumbent upon the consumer to pay attention to privacy policies and make their feelings about such matters known. There is always the tried and true method of voting with your feet — or skis, as it were.
This latest turn of the screw in mining consumer information does not alarm us on its face, but all parties involved would do well to be judicious about the use of such powerful technology.
