Smartphones can say a lot about you and your spending habits.
Of course, not all consumers are happy to know that their purchasing habits and the identification number (MAC address) are followed. Nordstrom, the Seattle-based retailer, received an avalanche of criticism after pilot monitoring project was disseminated in the media.
Although this project is completed, the use of monitoring and WiFi smartphone data for marketing purposes is not likely to disappear. From the standpoint of a retailer, it offers pure gold - data on the preferences of individual customers as where they shop, the duration of their store visits, how they walk in the store, and final purchase amount
the WiFi function in. your phone shows your purchases Preferences
whether your phone is running on Apple, Android, or the system Windows OS - if the WiFi is enabled, your phone is almost constantly searching for WiFi networks nearby to hang with. It does this by sending a small message "ping" which includes the identification number of the device.
By recording and analyzing the potential customers of smartphones pings, retailers can learn a lot about their customers' preferences. Analytics Euclidean, the company that allowed the Nordstrom monitoring project, says on its website that their application enables customers to trace the customer movements in a store, determine the ratio of the potential of actual customers, and link this information to purchase amounts.
Your MAC address you
As mentioned, the WiFi "ping" includes the individual identification number of the phone. Technically, this is called the MAC address, short for Media Access Control, and is burned into the device by the manufacturer. A more descriptive term used by Windows PCs is "physical address". Yes, your MAC address - as well as your IP address - your electronic ID facto
By recording the MAC addresses of customers, marketing people can get a close look at the individual consumer over time .. This is much more than simply follow the physical movement to narrow the floor plan of the store. It also includes the financial transactions of an individual in time and their choice of store locations. The monitoring of this type is more invasive - in my opinion - that mining text messages for fashion references (plaid against paisley compared with peas). And the last type of analysis is clearly illegal -. While it may be interesting for a retailer
Let's talk privacy
Of course, tracking companies talk a lot about the protection of the individual staff data, encryption and secure storage . MAC addresses, for example, are stored in a "chopped" in encrypted form. And if you do not ever want to be included in this, you can add your MAC address to their database, "Do not follow".
But what happens when there is not only Nordstrom involved in this monitoring system, but a mall? The food court had very precise information about the preferences menu and regular customers to its stores. And this is where privacy goes down the drain.
Advertising gurus noted that the monitoring of MAC and IP address is exactly what companies like Google and various e-shops are already doing. This allows them to track potential customers throughout the research experience and shopping. The unanswered question is whether a physical client should be given more privacy than online. Hmmm. Here's something to think about when buying.
Your participation is almost automatic
If you have a smartphone, your participation in these monitoring programs is almost automatic. As Nordstrom advised clients in 17 pilot stores, "To not participate, deactivate or the Wi-Fi function of your device to your device."
Lyle Frink on Google+
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