Telefonica creates NFC District in Madrid

At least they're putting their money where their mouth is

Thing is, of course, that it's an entirely too corporate way of looking at things, effectively enroaching corporate space into everywhere else. And that before looking at the technical drawbacks. This is a common problem with corporations trying to flaunt anything to do with identification, authentication, authorisation and accounting. It starts with getting hit with the full gamut instead of just the parts that are really needed, to the point that the systems don't even work unless they know the whereabouts of your first born. Oftentimes we don't realise the models used are best suited for big corporations and not so much for the man in the street, unless he doesn't mind being put away as an obedient little citizen consumer.

This will indubitably yield telefonica valuable experience in rolling out, but whether it'll really spread out? I for me wouldn't want a single handset not in my complete control to contain enough functions to track my every move, not just my physical steps. I know exactly what and what not to expect from the money and the keys in my pocket. NFC isn't nearly as transparent.

Just the physical tracking is already bothering and recently vividly illustrated. It shows how much information we're leaking already. I think we'll need to curb that through law, procedure, technology, and user awareness. It's time we the citizens started thinking seriously about the implications. And demand better solutions from the corporations with things to sell us.