New Phone Tracking System Violates Privacy RightsMick Meaney U.S. retailers including Home Depot and Nordstrom have already implemented the surveillance technology, alongside some of the most popular shopping malls in Singapore. These systems provide a detailed minute-by-minute level of surveillance and can tell the amount of time a customer spent in a particular store, how often they visit the store, and it can tell the difference between new and returning customers. In most cases shoppers are unaware that they are being tracked, let alone asked for their permission. Indoor tracking is big business. A report by ABI Reseach claims the market for non-GPS tracking technology will be worth $8 billion by 2017. According to InfoWorld, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who introduced legislation to regulate shopper tracking has spoken out against the use of the system: Its one thing to track someones shopping habits through a loyalty card or credit card purchase; folks understand that their information may be collected. Its another thing entirely to track consumers movements without their permission as they shop, especially when someone doesnt buy anything or even enter a store. People have a fundamental right to privacy, and I think neglecting to ask consumers for their permission to track them violates that right. People understand there are cameras in stores to prevent shoplifting, and they know that if they use credit or reward cards their information is collected. But thats voluntary. This technology is not. Heres how the system works: While the companies behind this technology claim that information returned is anonymous through hashing the Mac data, last year Ed Felten who works for the Federal Trade Commission demonstrated how easy it is for hackers to unscramble hashed data, labeling the use of hashing as risky: The casual assumption that hashing is sufficient to anonymize data is risky at best, and usually wrong. More news and videos can be found at Mick Meaneys site RINF.com where this article first appeared. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 