DIY RFID-Blocking Duct Tape Wallet

I’m going to Walt Disney World in just 24 days, for WDW Today Reunion 2013! But I have some concerns about the use of active and passive RFIDs in the new MagicBands, and of passive RFIDs in the resort hotel room keys. So, I’m planning to skip the MagicBand and just stick with the room key, which I can store in this nifty RFID-blocking wallet I just made with a little help from Instructables, a few things I had around the house, and some cute Hello Kitty duct tape my sister-in-law gave me. The RFID-blocking component is aluminum foil, sandwiched between two sheets of duct tape to make the main body of the wallet.

Note the fancy-schmancy Monorail Pilot license in the ID holder!

Lining of the money pocket and the change pocket (not shown) is Hello Kitty.

It took about 90 minutes to make the wallet. I think it would go faster next time, since I had a little trouble at first working with the duct tape. The Hello Kitty duct tape was more forgiving than the standard silver duct tape when it came to accidentally sticking things together and having to pull them apart, perhaps because the cutesy patterned duct tapes seem to have been designed primarily for crafting, not taping ducts (which actually turns out to not be a good use of duct tape, nominative determinism notwithstanding.

I might just make a little pouch for Magic Bands, too, but I haven’t been about to find good sources on whether active RFIDs are blocked by aluminum foil; I’m trusting Consumer Reports that the foil blocks passive RFIDs.

And yes, a tinfoil hat will be necessary, strictly for fashion purposes. A project for another day.

RFIDs and MyMagic+ and Privacy, Oh My!

Over at StudiosCentral, my recent Jentasmic! columns have focused on the NextGen, newly-announced MyMagic+ initiative at Walt Disney World.

• MyMagic+: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
• RFIDs and Privacy at Walt Disney World and Beyond

It’s interesting to watch the response to MyMagic+, both from the Disney fandom and from the press. Business writers generally zoom right into the moneymaker: Disney building an unprecedented database of Guest information, with implications for both privacy concerns and outstanding marketing opportunities. The fandom is mostly giddy for the new technologies, the new customization of Guest experience, and the convenience of wearing a MagicBand instead of carrying a card or two.

As a dues-paying member of the ACLU, which chimed in on tracking people with RFIDs years ago, I’m concerned about the privacy implications, primarily related to the inferences which can be drawn through data-mining (remember when a couple MIT students figured out how to mine Facebook data to determine whether a man was gay?).

And at the same time, I’m deep enough into Disney fanaticism that I’m likely to give the system a spin next time I travel to Walt Disney World. I’ll be interested to see how things go as MyMagic+ is gradually rolled out, and how much it changes from this point in response to Guest feedback and operational experience.