Stores Tracking Shoppers Using Phone Wi-Fi Signals

[exfileme]

Forget Big Brother: Big Retailer is keeping its eye on your every move, and taking notes.

Stores Tracking Shoppers Using Phone Wi-Fi Signals : Read more

 

[matter37]

Well, I am glad that I turn off WiFi when I leave my house.

 

[matter37]

Well, I am glad that I turn off WiFi when I leave my house.

 

[infernocy]

this is happening for like 10 years now and it is nothing ... imagine in uk that there are cameras everywhere and they found everyone that was on the riots from following their moves from every store .. privacy is going to 0% very very fast

 

[infernocy]

this is happening for like 10 years now and it is nothing ... imagine in uk that there are cameras everywhere and they found everyone that was on the riots from following their moves from every store .. privacy is going to 0% very very fast

 

[jdlobb]

"needless to say"?

Tin foil hat much? Why on earth would you have such an issue with a company trying to make your shopping experience better? Would you rather they just guess at what you want?

 

[HEXiT]

all this crap is really starting to bug me... tracking is illegal and contravenes your human rights. your phone is your personal property and the data on it is protected by the data protection act. but these corporations are just bypassing the law because they know that the law isnt keeping pace with development of tech...
with the likes of the nsa there is at least oversight and judicial review (hopefully) but these private and public companies have no such checks and balances to protect the people there tracking.
its likely to be another 20 years before the law catches up and thats just not good enough. while we wait for our rights to privacy to be enforced these companies will be lobbying there governments for even more intrusive gathering on the ground that they wont be able to compete in the open market without knowing there customers data. its utter garbage.

we really need to get a proper digital rights bill that protects every1s data.
i mean seriously if you send a letter through the post. it goes to the post box, to the post office, to the sorting office on to delivery and then to the addressed party. at no time is the post office allowed to look inside that letter under penalty of jailtime. yet you send an email and every 1 and there cousin thinks they have the right to open it and read it... there is no real distinction between an email and a letter other than the means of which its delivered so should be protected by the same laws.

also just because on online retailer is gathering info on your browsing habits (again debatable whether this is legal) it doesnt give the stores the same right to do the same... in other words, just coz 1 guy sparks up a joint doesn't make it legal for every 1 to smoke Mary Jane.

 

[FFH]

I don't care I'll still use the free wifi. These stores are going to have problems, and it's just not the privacy aspect. They're going to have problems with the tracking accuracy. I don't know about everyone else, but I sometimes go to stores just to use the wifi. You'll see me aimlessly wandering through the store trying to look interested in buying things. They're going to have a hard time because of people like myself.

To get accurate data, they'll have to connect both the wifi data and the security camera data to weed out customers that are just using the wifi. I agree that they've been doing this for a while. Both with the security cameras, and with the club cards or store charge cards. It's not new, but physically tracking someone can feel make one feel stalked.

 

[ipwn3r456]

Or use a VPN or Proxy when you use public wifi...

 

[10tacle]

"Tin foil hat much? Why on earth would you have such an issue with a company trying to make your shopping experience better? Would you rather they just guess at what you want?"

WRONG douchebag. It's about the stores using OUR PRIVATE PHONES unsolicited and spamming us. I've never, EVER had a "better" personal shopping experience with consumer data mining of ANY kind.

In any event, nothing that 1) putting the phone in airplane mode won't take care of or 2) at worst case, just don't shop in the stores that do this and shop online if you have to. The consumer needs to start punching back with their lost sales revenue.

 

[10tacle]

"Tin foil hat much? Why on earth would you have such an issue with a company trying to make your shopping experience better? Would you rather they just guess at what you want?"

WRONG douchebag. It's about the stores using OUR PRIVATE PHONES unsolicited and spamming us. I've never, EVER had a "better" personal shopping experience with consumer data mining of ANY kind.

In any event, nothing that 1) putting the phone in airplane mode won't take care of or 2) at worst case, just don't shop in the stores that do this and shop online if you have to. The consumer needs to start punching back with their lost sales revenue.

 

[10tacle]

What the hell - I only submitted that post once and then did a page refresh. Really???