Pokens!!!! What do you think

[gizmo2005]

What is a Poken? A Poken is the new social networking accessory that contains all your contact information. Put your photo, name, email, social networking IDs, screen names in your Poken. When you meet other Poken owners, just touch Pokens to connect: swap your information for theirs, go home, plug it into your computer's USB port, and check in on your new friend in their Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn or one of dozens of other social networking accounts. Already know your friends' accounts? Perfect. Poken keeps track of when they open or close new social networking accounts so you'll never lose touch. Your Social Business Card - Poken

 

 

Let me know what you think

[LosOjos]

Is this your idea or something?

 

I think it's a great idea that in it's current form would be really appealing for kids/kids at heart, and if a 'pro' version was released (i.e. a more professional looking version) could have fantastic potential for businesses to replace business cards.

 

Admittedly I've not read through the whole site, but are they hardware encrypted so that if somebody were to get hold of yours they couldnt access all of your accounts and details? Because that could be a major flaw if not...

[elsiegee40]

I await the kids abusing them with interest

[LeMarchand]

You've got to be poken joking!

 

What's wrong with sending whatever details you want to give out by email? Can you not do this via smartphone? (I've never had cause to do it, but my old Visor from years back could beam out business details, so I guess my new phone can - just never had cause to).

 

That said, "tha kidz" might have a use for this sort of thing - as an old dinosaur who refuses to join any social network () I don't.

[gizmo2005]

Is this your idea or something?

 

I think it's a great idea that in it's current form would be really appealing for kids/kids at heart, and if a 'pro' version was released (i.e. a more professional looking version) could have fantastic potential for businesses to replace business cards.

 

Admittedly I've not read through the whole site, but are they hardware encrypted so that if somebody were to get hold of yours they couldnt access all of your accounts and details? Because that could be a major flaw if not...

 

wish it was my idea mate, have been told to look into them and trying to get some feedback, from what i can tell they can be used for business as well, all you need to do is put your business website on and email address and email,

 

 

all you need to do is touch pokens and the data tranfers straight over, what a great idea

[gizmo2005]

Is this your idea or something?

 

I think it's a great idea that in it's current form would be really appealing for kids/kids at heart, and if a 'pro' version was released (i.e. a more professional looking version) could have fantastic potential for businesses to replace business cards.

 

Admittedly I've not read through the whole site, but are they hardware encrypted so that if somebody were to get hold of yours they couldnt access all of your accounts and details? Because that could be a major flaw if not...

 

to be honest i havnt looked into how secure they are at the moment, but im still reading up on them, if there secure then personally i think there a great idea, will keep you posted on that tho

[jamesb]

You've got to be poken joking!

 

What's wrong with sending whatever details you want to give out by email? Can you not do this via smartphone? (I've never had cause to do it, but my old Visor from years back could beam out business details, so I guess my new phone can - just never had cause to).

 

That said, "tha kidz" might have a use for this sort of thing - as an old dinosaur who refuses to join any social network () I don't.

 

An old dinosaur who missed out the ever-so-useful method for exchanging contact details which I, and many others, still use?

 

Illegible scribblings on bits of paper - the best bit is you can fake details more easily if you don't actually want to communicate with the person ever again.

[gizmo2005]

have just found out that if your poken gets stolen they are password protected, you have to register your poken on the website and input your business details if for that reason or even your facebook or myspace ect details in, once the pokens touch they transfer data

[jamesb]

So all you need in order to extract all of the data from one, is another one you know the password of?

 

I think password protecting them is a little pointless.

[gizmo2005]

but they wont send logins to each other just email adresses and links to social networking sites that they are on

[elsiegee40]

but they wont send logins to each other just email adresses and links to social networking sites that they are on

 

Yep and those carefully guarded secrets from the students are let loose because a little darling manages to touch the teacher's one and get all his social networking details and private email address. I'd be recommending school staff DON'T bring them to school... or even own one.

[gizmo2005]

keep your pokens safe people lol thats all i can say to that one

[Sarconia]

Hmm... I'm not really too sure about this. I'd rather not have all of my accounts in one place, some of them are for work and others are personal... they need to stay separate (and I wouldn't buy 2). So I'll be sticking with good old e-mail/MSN and trusty pieces of paper.

 

I can see it being a fad with the kids at school though.

[elsiegee40]

Hmm... I'm not really too sure about this. I'd rather not have all of my accounts in one place, some of them are for work and others are personal... they need to stay separate (and I wouldn't buy 2). So I'll be sticking with good old e-mail/MSN and trusty pieces of paper.

 

I can see it being a fad with the kids at school though.

 

There are two scenarios that worry me a lot:

 

Teacher A leaves his Poken on his desk. Student B touches it with his Poken and obtains email addresses, mobile number, telephone number, skype, facebook, etc about Teacher A and either uses it to make Teacher A's life a misery or spreads the information to the rest of the school.

 

Alternatively Student B's Poken is touched by the Poken belonging to either School Bully C or Child Abuser D. C or D have enough information in one go to make anyone shudder.

 

The more I think about it, these devices are insane! A Safeguarding nightmare!

 

EDIT

 

It would seem that no data is actually stored on the Poken which is good. They exchange tags and you get the other user's information via the website. But there doesn't seem to be any way of locking the poken so that it can only exchange information with your permission.

Edited July 15, 2010 by elsiegee40

[jamesb]

There are two scenarios that worry me a lot:

 

Teacher A leaves his Poken on his desk. Student B touches it with his Poken and obtains email addresses, mobile number, telephone number, skype, facebook, etc about Teacher A and either uses it to make Teacher A's life a misery or spreads the information to the rest of the school.

 

Alternatively Student B's Poken is touched by the Poken belonging to either School Bully C or Child Abuser D. C or D have enough information in one go to make anyone shudder.

 

The more I think about it, these devices are insane! A Safeguarding nightmare!

 

EDIT

 

It would seem that no data is actually stored on the Poken which is good. They exchange tags and you get the other user's information via the website. But there doesn't seem to be any way of locking the poken so that it can only exchange information with your permission.

 

Not storing data on the poken is pretty much irrelevant, when that tag gives you access to all of the information anyway. I suspect there's some way to lock down the default information provided to someone else via the hub, but how many people will really do that?

 

Scenario c) school bully or malicious prankster steals someone else's poken, and goes around handing out their contact details to absolutely everyone that they can, endangering the original owner.

[gizmo2005]

maybe you guys should read up about it and see what the potential damages actually are, im going to as well

[sidewinder]

In a school there are obvious pitfalls

 

But in other environments, I quite like the idea. Of course they are completely pointless until they reach a point where more then 0.1% of people have them.

 

You - "Lets touch pokens"

Everyone else - "WTF are you about? Sounds disgusting"

[Rydra]

not to mention, how sensitive are they for transmitting the data, and is there any encryption on the tags it transfers, so it can only be transferred to pokens (and legitimate ones) not just some guy with an rf scanner.

 

I think these are a trully horrible idea in a school environment, kids don't need more ways for random people to get eachothers contact details.

[elsiegee40]

maybe you guys should read up about it and see what the potential damages actually are, im going to as well

I am and I have posted a question on their forum Safeguarding Concerns ... I am awaiting an answer for interest. I would like to be proved wrong, but somehow I doubt it.

[featured_spectre]

It seems like a good idea aimed at the children, provided they have the ability to lock out who gets the info via the website, or if it is tagged, what info is given out. I am lookin at the website and will give a phone call too them and pose these questions no behalf of all of us if that is ok?

[featured_spectre]

Just asked on the phone...answers are as follows

 

All details are given out, no chance of passwording any details or safeguarding as it is aimed at businesses not for education.

And it has a maximum tag range of 2m, however they have to be held towards each other (not just swiped whilst it was in a radius).

 

For education = bad

For business = not so bad

[elsiegee40]

I find it fascinating that my concern on their forum has been responded to within minutes of me saying I had posted it on this thread... ... makes me question who the original poster is.

 

This is the answer:

We appreciate your concerns and always welcome comments and feedback.

While in no way do we want to belittle the concern for safety and privacy, the poken data exchange is much like trading business cards. In the scenarios you list, perhaps a similar outcome would be had if A or B left their business cards, or any document with their address and/or phone number, lying around. Poken would actually provide an added level of security, as you can't "take back a business card" while you can delete contacts in your timeline.

 

We at Poken take data privacy and security very seriously, and follow or supersede best practises on the internet. One could argue that leaving your always-password-protected poken lying around would be far less damaging than a stray mobile phone full of sensitive data. Perhaps for some people Poken is a solution, rather than an additional risk.

 

Thank you for pointing out situations in which any user should be careful with their personal data, whether technology or internet-related, or not. It's always possible to think up negative scenarios relating to a product or technology. If one looks at the flip side of your comment, poken provides a new level of security to online relationships that is in line with the requirements set by the Child Protection Act: any sensitive audience, such as children, should be protected from establishing any kind of relationship online with anyone not met in person. Poken provides that validation, that the two users have indeed been allowed to have contact "in the real world".

 

My less than satisfied reply is being drafted now!

 

Anyone else want to join up and chip in their two penn'orth before blocking the darn website on their web-filtering at school.

Edited July 16, 2010 by elsiegee40

[localzuk]

I can't see how they can do anything to alleviate your concerns though elsiegee40. The devices work on the principal of quick and easy passing of contact details. Once the person then logs into the site, the information is visible to them.

 

How could it be password protected or something? It would defeat the purpose of the device entirely...

[gizmo2005]

I can't see how they can do anything to alleviate your concerns though elsiegee40. The devices work on the principal of quick and easy passing of contact details. Once the person then logs into the site, the information is visible to them.

 

How could it be password protected or something? It would defeat the purpose of the device entirely...

 

Have to agree with you on this, some people will not be happy with what they do, if your not happy then just dont get one. as for you saying i might work for Poken ltd that makes me laugh, i have been asked to look into these and find out some information

 

 

[jamesb]

I can't see how they can do anything to alleviate your concerns though elsiegee40. The devices work on the principal of quick and easy passing of contact details. Once the person then logs into the site, the information is visible to them.

 

How could it be password protected or something? It would defeat the purpose of the device entirely...

 

What concerns me is the suggestion that these things are targeted as business users, but they're quite blatantly designed with a 'cutesy' aspect.

 

On the other hand the USB key version is something I might be interested in if they do start getting popular, but I shudder at the thought of waving a little collectable toy at anyone I want to share contact details with. I can see that ending some business relationships before they begin, to say nothing of social ones.