Jim McDowell, vice president of Mini USA, holds a key fob that contains the RFID chip, which the company says can trigger the billboard from up to 500 feet away. Participating drivers fill out an online questionnaire that asks about them (including their birthday), their driving habits and their affection for their car.
But--curiously for a system that generates "unique, personal, playful and unexpected messages targeted to and triggered by Mini owners" (italics ours, not theirs)--the company also says the cryptographically protected RFID tags contain no user data. At the very least, the system is supposed to know enough about a driver so that a lawyer might see a customized message reading "Moving at the speed of justice!" or a driver named Scott might trigger a message such as "Motor like you mean it, Scott!"
Photo by Jim Sulley/Newscast
