Two U.S. Malls Set to Track Shoppers' Cell Phones on Black Friday

Two malls this Black Friday will be picking up on shoppers' cell signals and tracking their movements in order to see "patterns of movement." This is the first time cell phones tracking technology has been used to monitor shoppers movements in malls, CNN Money reports, although the concept of tracking movements in shopping centers is not a new practice.

CNN Money has more on the monitoring, which will take place from Black Friday through New Years day at Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va.:

The goal is for stores to answer questions like: How many Nordstrom shoppers also stop at Starbucks? How long do most customers linger in Victoria's Secret? Are there unpopular spots in the mall that aren't being visited?

[...]

"We won't be looking at singular shoppers," said Stephanie Shriver-Engdahl, vice president of digital strategy for Forest City, [ which is the management company for both malls]. "The system monitors patterns of movement. We can see, like migrating birds, where people are going to."

The system they are using, FootPath Technology, picks up unique identification numbers of phones using antennas set up around the mall in order to track movement. Check out a simulation of how the technology works here. It doesn't take photos or any other data and officials say all tracking will be anonymous.

CNN reports that a few retailers such as JC Penny and Home Depot have also considered using such technology in order to track products and marketing tactics that do and do not attract customers.

Still, shoppers are being alerted of the monitoring system with signs throughout the mall and, if they wish to not be tracked, are encouraged to turn off their cell phone.

CNN reports FootPath Technology's manufacturer Path Intelligence's CEO Sharon Biggar as saying shoppers rarely opt out:

"It's just not invasive of privacy," she said. "There are no risks to privacy, so I don't see why anyone would opt out."

With such technology though, the opportunity for hackers to capitalize on information being collected is always a possibility.

[H/T: Drudge Report]