Here’s another one for the disturbing invasion of privacy file – some shopping malls in the U.S. will be using software to track the movement of people from store to store this Black Friday (tomorrow).
The software is used to analyze shoppers’ movement patterns through the mall and see how many people go to which stores in which order and for how long. It’s all done automatically as soon as you get near the mall. Don’t want to be tracked? There are tiny little signs on the mall directories that no one reads that don’t explain how the tracking works or even how to opt out of it. You’re then invited to visit the company’s website or the management office. Your call is important to us!
So how do you opt out? A company spokesperson explains that all people have to do is turn off their cell phone, adding that “I don’t see why anyone would opt out”. People have to visit the website or the service desk to be told that they have to turn off their phone if they don’t want to be subject to tracking they didn’t agree to. Lovely.
This kind of invasive tracking is marketing taken too far. Sure, it’s good to know how many people go from store to store, but this crosses a threshold – it’s disrespectful to customers and it’s an invasion of their privacy. The very least they could have done is add legible signs to the mall doors explaining what they’re tracking, why they’re doing it, and how to opt out. That’s the worst in all of this – they tried to hide what they were doing, which implies they knew people wouldn’t be happy about it if they found out.
That’s a good thing to keep in mind – don’t do something you wouldn’t tell your client or customer to his face. Now this story is all over CNN and the malls are surely facing a consumer backlash. Shoppers are what put food on their table – why not be upfront and honest rather than use underhanded marketing tricks?
Nov. 28th update – The malls have discontinued the tracking after consumers and US senator Chuck Schumer raised objections to the practice. I hope that few days’ worth of tracking data was worth it!