Shopping Malls To Track Your Mad Dash For Deals Using Your Cellphone

Privacy advocates are raising concerns over a new technology being implemented by a couple of malls that will allow them to track the movements of their guests using the unique ID numbers of their cellphones.

The system, called FootPath Technology, uses a series of antennas located throughout a mall to register a shopper's cellphone, and then tracks its movements from store to store. This provides planners with detailed information about how guests navigate the mall, which stores are most popular, and what areas might be under-trafficked. While it's being used in the U.S. for the first time starting on Black Friday at the Promenade Temecula in California and the Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Virginia, the system is already in use in shopping centers in Europe and Australia.

While privacy advocates are concerned about the security aspects of logging and tracking a shopper's cellphone ID, the system is completely anonymous and doesn't have access to the person's name, number or even what they purchased. It simply provides detailed information on where they've traveled throughout the mall, which is data that has been collected via other methods for years now. Both malls are being up front about the new technology, hanging signs that let consumers know they're being tracked. But their solution for allowing people to opt out, by simply turning off their cellphones, is akin to saying if you don't want to be tracked, then don't shop here. [Chicago Tribune via Examiner]


Photo: AP Photo/Alan Mothner