In 2014, more retailers might know how you shop
Summary
Over the past several months, a growing number of retailers -- including major chains Bloomingdales, American Apparel and Brookstone -- have hired technology companies to help them learn more about what shoppers are doing in their stores. There are also some businesses, such as the Apple Store, which have installed sensors so they can alert you to special deals or products as you walk past them, if you have downloaded a certain app on your iPhone and agreed to let it recognize your location. The Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focused on advancing responsible data practices, estimates that roughly 1,000 businesses in the U.S. and Canada are using mobile location-analytics technologies in some way right now. The retailer contracted with Prism Skylabs, a merchandising and video analytics startup that uses existing security cameras and integrates its own heat mapping software to show which areas of the store had the most activity. This spring, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will hold a series of seminars to examine the privacy implications of several emerging technologies, including mobile device tracking in stores.
