Londoners Unwittingly Exchange First Born Children For Free Wi-Fi
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Naina Bajekal @naina_bajekal
Sept. 29, 2014
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Signed agreement that included a
"Herod Clause," in experiment designed to show dangers of unguarded
Wi-Fi hotspots
Not reading the small print could
mean big problems, as a handful of Londoners who accidentally signed away their
first born children in exchange for access to free Wi-Fi recently found out.
An experiment organized by the
Cyber Security Research Institute was conducted in some of the busiest
neighborhoods in London and intended to highlight the major risks associated
with public Wi-Fi networks.
In June, researchers set up a Wi-Fi
hotspot that promised network access to users who agreed to a set of terms and
conditions. These included a “Herod Clause” offering free Wi-Fi if the user
agreed to hand over their eldest child “for the duration of eternity.” The page
was disabled after six people signed up.
Finnish security firm F-Secure,
which sponsored the research, said it had decided not to enforce the clause.
“As this is an experiment, we will be returning the children to their parents,”
wrote the Finnish company in its report. “While terms and conditions are
legally binding, it is contrary to public policy to sell children in return for
free services, so the clause would not be enforceable in a court of law.”
The company urged people to take
Wi-Fi security more seriously. Sean Sullivan, security advisor at F-Secure,
told The Guardian: “People are thinking of Wi-Fi as a place as opposed
to an activity…You don’t do unprotected Wi-Fi at home, why are you doing it in
public?”
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