Sneak hears that boffins from the University of Washington in the US have worked themselves into a lather over the privacy implications of wireless-enabled running shoes. The Nike+iPod combo, trialled recently by IT Week’s breathless wheezer David Neal, use a transmitter in the shoe to keep the iPod informed of the runner’s progress, while software works out distance travelled, calories burned, and delivers upbeat audio encouragement via the iPod’s headphones. The US boffins point out that the shoe-to-pod data is unencrypted, and that a suitable network of snooping devices positioned around a city could be used to covertly track the movements of people. As security scares go, this one is slightly less worrying than fears that the Royal Mail might be covertly tracking your movements abroad from the postcards you send home to mum. If you’re that worried, don’t wear Nikes. Or wrap your feet in tin-foil.

05 Dec 2006