Tomorrowland's Data
There is no tomorrow at Tomorrowland. It's only the moment that counts.
Tomorrowland is a Belgian festival that holds the Elixir of Life in their wristbands. People are completely shut out from reality, they even have their own currency, so Euros, Dollars or Pounds don't buy you anything. Once you get there, you have to make sure to exchange money for Tokens. It makes you spend more without even realising that you spend a proper fortune.
With almost 500,000 visitors, Tomorrowland is the largest electronic music festival in the world and therefore organisers monitor a huge amount of data.
Hundreds of people blog about Tomorrowland because one thing is crystal clear:
You cannot be unprepared!
My favourite blog DiscoDemons have a helpful guide to the festival, explaining how to get tickets, what to bring and how to survive the madness.
Tickets, Wristbands and ID
Let's assume you actually spent a day or two camping in front of your computer and managed to buy stage tickets, camping tickets and tickets for the plane - well done! Demand for tickets is so high, they are sold out within the hour.
When booking your ticket, you personalise it with your ID, that's why its almost impossible to sell on a ticket to someone else. For security reasons Tomorrowland registers every visitor with their ticket and matching ID. If you forget either, you won't get in; no exceptions!
So how much personal information are you giving away exactly?
You basically register your name, date of birth, nationality, ID issue number and soul on it. A fellow Tech Blogger got his hands on a wristband from 2014 and took the entire thing apart to demonstrate the technology behind it. Go check out Jelmertiete for the detailed version.
Jelmertiete's post describes the technology used for the individual wristbands. They look like a watch. On the inside, there is a chip with your personal registration and GPS, so Tomorrowland knows at all times where you are which might come in handy in the worst-asa scenario. At help points you can ask in the event of an emergency only to locate your friend.
The wristbands also have LED lasers matching the light shows at one of the 20 stages. You simply select your stage and the wristband starts blinking with the beat.
Of course those personalised wristbands rise a lot of privacy issue concerns, so organisers explain exactly how your personal information is used on the Private Policy section of their website.
An entertainment and medium enterprise organisation called ID&T processes the obtained personal information and keeps them in their system. ID&T operates with the largest festivals in the world, keeping order and monitoring the Big Data coming from festivals every year.
This screenshot tells you what information is being taken and why:
Overall, it's required to give your details and proof of identity when entering their service. You can also fill out surveys and questionnaires voluntarily in order to have your wristband more personalised. All data received is kept safe at ID&T and used for marketing research and statistical analysis in order to improve wristbands for the following year. Organisers are keen on receiving voluntary information and personalise wristbands further. They want to create more accurate pen profiles using the database in order to improve customer experience and service.
Once registered, you receive login details for your profile at ID&T where you can monitor and edit you information. Alterations are possible, however you can also request to delete your data from the server by sending out an email. The request will be declined "if it concerns information that needs to be kept in pursuance of the law or an agreement." (Tomorrowland, 2016).
What's Tomorrowland gaining from your information?
- Big Data. Information is precious, especially when it's giving willingly by customers because that means that it's trustworthy. People wouldn't lie when they choose to give personal information.
