Perhaps the mesh WiFi rollout is merely an experiment with an additional layer of redundancy.

Keep in mind that digital radio is the wave of the future. It makes sense for the C&C to get some experience with software-based digital voice systems ASAP.

Currently, HPD uses sprint edge network cards or equivalent in their police vehicles. I suspect rates are at least $35.00 per month times all the number of police officers equals big money. Piggy backing off a free system may be incentive for the city to attempt a cost savings, but may not be a wise move.

So if you find yourself reading this fine blog Mayor Hannemann, think about these issues first before you start allowing first responders access to an untrusted pilot network.

I’m just prioritizing my worries here

If it’s a life or death situation, at that point, I’d care more about how fast an ambulance would respond than the possibility of someone stealing my information.

They’re both 2 bad scenarios, but to me, the speed of the first responder is more crucial.

Think of it this way… If you’re in an accident, and the fire department/ambulance is too slow to respond, you won’t have to worry about your personal information.

How do you feel about the chances that emergency-critical information could be slow getting to a first responder because someone’s downloading Spiderman 3 from Limewire?

I’m not sure why the City & County of Honolulu is offering WiFi to first responders. I hope there’s a clear set of reasons and appropriate security measures.

I would like to know what encryption and privacy measures are being used on the Tri-Net system. I might walk down the mall to Fisher Hawaii and see what my MacBook tells me.

WEP is not an appropriate encryption method. It’s far too easy to crack.

Of course, I can find a few dozen WiFi access points from my office window. Most of these are unencrypted, and some use the default SSID provided by the router manufacturer.

Nor is it appropriate for Tri-Net to snoop the network traffic for marketing or other purposes.

Google has posted their WiFi network privacy policy here.

It would be interesting to compare the Google policy to the C&C’s policy.

However, after reading the article, what disturbs me more is the notion of the city’s “first responders” using this service during the first year pilot. My fear is two fold, first the idea of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) being broadcast through a radiated media (wireless) that is currently in a testing period. How will Police, Fire, and ambulance services use this service? Will they inadvertently broadcast information about houses being robbed? Or even worse, upload case information about victims of rape or murder? How will we prevent crackers from using these same wireless transmission lines to back door themselves into Police and Fire information systems?

This brings us into my second concern of security. How is encrpytion defined? What level of encryption is being used? Are we providing security awareness training for our first responders to ensure transmission of data is properly secured?

As end users, we tend to use our computers for day to day activities at work or for school. We may feel comfortable using a free, open wireless network for these tasks, but when lives may be at stake, (like in the case of first responders), the city may question how much they want to incorporate this free system into the dependency of their daily job requirements…