Privacy Concerns Raised over Nike + iPod Shoe

By NewsFactor Network | December 4, 2006

This holiday season’s hottest gadget gift for music-loving athletes might also be a potential security nightmare, the likes of which might have come straight from the latest James Bond film, according to researchers at the University of Washington.

Computer science student T. Scott Saponas said the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a device that transmits data from a runner’s shoe to an iPod to measure metrics like distance and speed, is actually making users vulnerable to potential spy-like surveillance.

The in-shoe sensor could allow stalkers to track a user’s location from as far as 60 feet away, according to the study. “A bad person could use this information to compromise your personal privacy and safety,” said Saponas.

What’s the Frequency Nike?

The gadget in the Nike shoe contains a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that sends the data to a receiver connected to the iPod. Although the information is encrypted, there is still enough data in the broadcast to pose a security risk, according to Saponas.

“This information is potentially private because it can reveal where you are, even when you’d prefer for a bad person to not know your location,” said Saponas, noting that simple cryptographic techniques could have used to improve the privacy of the Nike+iPod kit.

Saponas’ research also showed that relatively inexpensive computer equipment could be used to capture the information. The potential “spyware” could be placed on a front door or in nearby bushes to read and record every time the shoe passed it by.

That would allow a person using the tracking equipment to log when the user was home or out jogging.

Spy Games

Saponas said networks built to exploit these vulnerabilities could map the movements of a person, and could plot that movement on online mapping services such as Google Maps.

The researchers also said that creating a surveillance network capable of…

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