Members of the MIT community can track students who log on to wireless internet from any campus location now that a new campus project has been installed, but some people are calling the system a marketing device that unnecessarily divulges private information.
The ISPOTS wireless campus project tracks the devices people use to connect to the network, including laptops, handheld wireless devices and Wi-Fi equipped cell phones, 24 hours a day.
MIT students can choose not to include their names on the network. Creators of the system said they think the ability to track people is “a new opportunity for students,” but did not specify how the system will be beneficial.
Developed by SENSEable City Laboratory in collaboration with MIT Information Services and Technology, the ISPOTS product offers data that can be used to better understand how wireless technology is changing campus life and will help plan future campus development, creators said.
Andres Sevtsuk, a graduate student in architecture at MIT, heads the project as a research assistant. He said changing work habits and preferred wireless locations are changing the way the campus functions.
“Times have changed, places have changed,” Sevtsuk said. “We wanted to understand what the new patterns were and where people work. The initial interest was to devise new kinds of mappings that illustrate things we don’t see in everyday life.
“We were convinced, thanks to wireless internet, people live and work differently on campus and wanted to quantitatively prove that.”
According to the project’s website, researchers use log files from the university’s internet service provider to construct the maps. The aim of the research is to collect extensive data on Wi-Fi usage on the MIT campus to better understand the daily working patterns and reexamine the design and components of the physical space supporting them.
The project was the product of a modest budget and team, allowing them to cut costs.
“The project was basically done with five to six people,” he said. “With the help of the IST, our costs were not great at all. … We received $15,000 from IST to fund people’s salaries to work on it.”
Sevtsuk said the three different mapping applications, which include a tracking application, a color field map of wireless activity and a comparative map that allows users to query wireless use in specific areas, will benefit different groups within the MIT community.
“It is publicly online if you want to go ispots.mit.edu,” he said.
Sevtsuk said once users on the network understood how the statistics page worked, they thought it was impressive.
“So far, the first thing everyone tried to do is map themselves on the map and type in their user name and allow themselves to be visible,” he said.
Although scientists in the industry are familiar with the tracking system, MIT is the first university to implement the initiative. Boston University has not publicly announced any plans to implement a similar system.
Colin Riley, spokesman for BU, said while the wireless system can identify a computer on the campus network, the individual’s identity remains anonymous.
“We are not monitoring any individual’s location when they are logging on the system,” Riley said. “We have no such plans. If you go into your room and log in, essentially, we can identify the computer, but you don’t know who the user is.”
Stevtsuk said the MIT system’s most popular feature is that it gives the user the ability to specifically query any area on campus or the surroundings of a room, revealing movement and monitored activity anytime over the past week.
“You can specifically query any area on campus,” he said. “Of course, not every single room has an antenna, but there are close to 3,000 antennas.”
Johanna Calderon-Dakin, a senior in the College of Communication, said although she finds the concept impressive, she is also fearful it could be invasive.
“It could be freaky,” she said. “I know it may probably be used for marketing research in the end. This kind of technology could be used in the future to possibly limit your liberty by being tracked down.”
She added that the marketing possibilities would be what would make her apprehensive of a similar wireless system at BU.
“I would think it is too invasive personally also because the basic thing of it is for marketing purposes or planning purposes,” Calderon-Dakin said. “Companies would probably try to market something according to where people work or spend the most time.”
Elizabeth Rankel, a junior in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, agreed that the system poses an invasion of privacy.
“If they know where you are as long as you’re logged in, if someone is looking for you, they can automatically find you,” she said. “I feel if they can do that, they can do other things too.”
She also expressed concern that the new system could be used to track users’ personal information, not just their movement.
“They can maybe eventually track what websites you’re going to and what you’re using your computer for,” Rankel said. “Just because you’re in a public place does not mean they should be able to track your whereabouts.”
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