November 22, 2011
For Black Friday shopping, two malls, “– Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. — will track guests’ movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones.” They say to not be looking at singular shoppers but rather crowds of consumers to see where people are going to and therefore strategize their selling techniques. They claim to not be looking at private settings but however I question how ethical this is. Consumers are able to turn their cellphones in order to not be a part of this strategy, but shouldn’t they be asked first? It sounds a little freaky that someone can know where you’re going to through your own personal phone. I believe it is questionable weather this is crossing the ethical lines of privacy or not.