If you have ever waved off a clipboard-wielding survey-taker at the mall, you understand the inherent data-collection challenges faced by shopping center landlords. After all, who has the time to undergo some demographer's version of the third degree? Thanks to the rapid rise of geo-location technology, however, more mall owners and retailers have been tinkering with data-collection techniques that promise to let customers go about their business undisturbed -- at least on the surface.
The idea is to quietly gather shoppers' location data -- for example, where they went in the mall and how long they spent at each location -- by tracking the automatic transmissions of their cell phones.
On paper, it sounds ideal: Forget about traffic-counting gadgets and teenage survey-takers; just put up some antennas and let each vendor's software solution turn those transmissions into actionable intelligence for the sponsoring company.
In practice, however, this promising technique can create significant legal and public relations problems. In one such instance at the end of last year, a series of media reports about cell-tracking by malls and stores created a PR nightmare for one mall owner, which shelved its program amid the complaints of privacy advocates.
The idea is to quietly gather shoppers' location data -- for example, where they went in the mall and how long they spent at each location -- by tracking the automatic transmissions of their cell phones.
On paper, it sounds ideal: Forget about traffic-counting gadgets and teenage survey-takers; just put up some antennas and let each vendor's software solution turn those transmissions into actionable intelligence for the sponsoring company.
In practice, however, this promising technique can create significant legal and public relations problems. In one such instance at the end of last year, a series of media reports about cell-tracking by malls and stores created a PR nightmare for one mall owner, which shelved its program amid the complaints of privacy advocates.
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Source: law.com
By: Kevin Pomfret and Leslie Spasser
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