As a responding blog to that of Tim Burke’s Someone’s Watching You, I could not agree more with the author’s finishing point, “I think that this is crossing the line, companies are gathering information on [consumers] then passing it around like a business card.” How are companies gathering information on you? Well, according to an ABC news-clip about a retail store located in San Francisco, through hidden cameras, and unauthorized documentation of personal details. That’s how.

There is a purpose to this madness. That is, both retail store managers and marketers alike use customers’ body and facial reaction (collected by the hidden cameras in mannequins) to see if their clientele is attracted or not to the store’s product supply. By further documenting your age, how long you were in the store, and what you bought at the register, business researchers can come to conclusions about what is trending, if prices are too high on some products, and can configure this information to feed the functional and psychological needs of the store’s target market.

But as an enthusiastic retail-therapy shopper, trust is part of the package of selling me your product. By invading to such an extensive degree on the personal privacy of your customers, you are not only risking their loyalty, but their trust in you as a supplier and retail individual in society. This kind of technology, though cheap, is being facilitated in a manner that is both degrading of personal privacy, and threatening in regards to customers’ sense of purchasing protection.

It is a practice that, in my opinion, should be pursued no further by marketers. It crosses the standard boundaries that are presumed by the customer, and that should be enforced by the retailer.