Thursday 15 November 2012

Going Shopping During the Holidays? Your Phone Might be Watching

Going Shopping During the Holidays? Your Phone Might be Watching

November 22, 2011
Space Odyssey Hal
Here’s a happy thought to keep you warm while you’re doing holiday shopping. Depending on where you shop, your cell phone might be keeping track of where you go… and the number of places that watch you will probably increase in the future.
Two U.S. malls, Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va., will be keeping tabs on shoppers with their own phones. According to CNN, the monitoring will occur from Black Friday through New Year’s Day.
The tracking system is called FootPath Technology, and it works through a series of antennas that are positioned in various locations throughout malls. The system basically ‘captures’ the unique identification number assigned to your phone and tracks it as you go through the stores.
According to Forest City Commercial Management, the management company for both malls, personal data is not being tracked and visitors to either mall can choose to opt out of the program by simply turning their cell phones off. The company is posting signs through both malls to let customers know they are being tracked, as well as advising them on how to opt out.
It might seem like an extreme invasion of privacy but some retails analysts say it’s just a high-tech spin on a practice that’s been going on for years, with FootPath taking the place of people counters, security cameras, heat maps, and undercover researchers that follow shoppers around.
FootPath Technology, created by Path Intelligence in Britain, has been used in Europe and Australia, but this year marks its U.S. debut, and it looks like FootPath will be branching out. J.C. Penney and Home Depot are also working with Path Intelligence. While Penney declined to comment on their relationship with the vendor, a spokesperson for Home Depot admitted the tracking technology was being considered but has not been used at this time.
Sharon Biggar, the CEO of Path Intelligence, says FootPath Technology is designed to give brick-and-mortar retailers the same type of shopping statistics that are already obtained by online retailers.
“We can now say, you had 100 people come to this product, but no one purchased it,” says Biggar. “From there, we can help a retailer narrow down what’s going wrong.”

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