Posts Tagged ‘ data ’

More on consumer surveillance

February 21, 2012
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In a previous post I described a new technological approach to track consumer behavior, utilizing data from security surveillance cameras and outlined some of the ethical issues that arise from the use and abuse of this technology. A recent NYT article (How Companies Learn Your Secrets by Charles Duhigg) adds valuable insight to the issue. Duhigg outlines the conversations he had with Andrew Pole, one of the leading statisticians of Target, the second largest retailer in the United States, focusing on Target’s interest in identifying pregnant female costumers to be able to specifically target them with advertisements. Though I recommend reading the…

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Consumer surveillance

February 7, 2012
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Until recently brick-and-mortar businesses have looked upon on-line operations like Amazon with envy because the latter have something that the traditional business do not–an easy and legal way to track consumer behavior and conduct market research. While many proposals have been put forward, none of them have been entirely effective, appropriate (RFID tracking, Payback/Loyalty Systems) or legal (METRO Loyalty card). But recently a new technological approach has been introduced by Prism Skylabs, utilizing the data from security surveillance cameras to track consumer behavior. On their website they state that: Prism Skylabs’ goal is to transform the world’s multi-hundred billion-dollar camera network…

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