Interesting articles here and here about how Gunwharf Quays – in Portsmouth – uses customer’s mobile phone signals to monitor their progress into and out of their shops, for market research purposes. I’m bringing it up because it’s a local story, and it makes you think twice about your privacy.
I’m not really fussed about the owners of Gunwharf Quays knowing which of their shops I visit, for how long, and in what order. But since they’re taking the info without asking, it puts me in mind to be difficult. 
So next time I’m there, I think I might turn my phone off and on a few times to reset the ID signal. If you read this and feel as I do, then it might be worth thinking about doing the same. 
May 21, 2008 at 6:41 am |
Hah. I wrote about this last night, http://www.yetanotherblog.com/2008/05/20/path-intelligence/ but for a completely different reason. I was more interested that the company began in Gosport! Hadn’t even spotted the media had got their hands on it.
I wonder if the Carphone Warehouse or similar screw with their stats? Must look like the place gets a huge amount of customers as the salespeople turn on the phones in the backroom for new sales or demos.
May 21, 2008 at 6:51 am |
[...] (and undoubtedly many others) covering the chilling effects of data aggregation. Fellow blogger Chris has also written about it, and plans to switch his phone on and [...]