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Facebook and Cisco Offer Check-In Service For Free Wifi
cagraham writes "According to TechCrunch, Facebook and Cisco are now expanding their joint "Facebook Wifi" program nationwide. The service directs customers who connect to a store's wifi to a landing page where they are encouraged to "check-in" to the business in order to be connected. While users can currently opt out of this and still be connected, the "skip this" button is noticeably difficult to find. The free software integrates with businesses existing routers and providers. Facebook provides reports to participating businesses as well, complete with anonymized aggregate data on the demographics of the customers who checked-in."
"Congratulations, we'll give you a service that lots of people offer for free,as long as you earn us money!" - Facebook
Facebook or google pretending they are the internet again. Sorry to any of you that enjoyed the days where there were more than 2 websites.
Well, not quite. It would be the merchants who offer "free" wifi with this (so far) optional "service" that think so. The wifi still works, for now. When you can't get to anything without having a Facebook account with which to surrender your privacy, then we have a problem. "Look, barrista-dude. I bought your damn coffee and an overpriced stale pastry. Now I just want to check my stocks and no, I do not have a Facebook account."
I bet career criminals love this new-ish trend of people voluntarily letting the world know when they are away from their homes and valuables.
Jim's Facebook Timeline -
8/17: Jim bought the newest 80" 3D flatscreen, here's a picture of it in the living room! WOW what a big picture!
9/23: Jim just got a new gold iPhone 5s! FTW!!!
9/28: Jim posted 264 photos taken with his Canon DSLR
10/1: Jim checked in at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to use their wifi! Hello World!
10/1: Jim just found out that while he was at BB&B this morning, somebody cleaned him out! Sad panda :(
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Difficult to find? Hardly. I'm all for faulting Facebook when it's deserved, but the "skip check-in" link is in plain sight (link).
On Android, I use WiFi Web Login
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.uk.syslynx.wifiwebloginapp&hl=en
Teach it how to click "no thanks, just log me in" and off you go.
You've missed the point. This is for businesses that not only may monitor your wifi connection, but also demand that you advertise their business to all your facebook "friends" before they'll let you use it.
This is just one more way that facebook is enabling businesses to worm their way into your online life. Next step is to give the business you "checked in" with access to your profile data, so next time you're in their shop using their wifi, they can serve up their adverts targeted at you. Are you ready for creepy stalker adverts that know where you are, and what you should be buying there? Are you ready for those adverts appearing on the shop menu, visible to all? It's going to happen.
Don't want to use their wifi? How about if they gave discounts that can only be accessed through your facebook account while you're ordering your coffee? How about when those discounts become the de-facto actual price, and the usual price is more of a non-facebook excess fee? Still going to be the refusenik?
Companies would argue that this is all about knowing you better, to better give you what you want. But I say this is handing over to them every advantage the customer ever had in the transaction.
Why connect to a free and often slow/overloaded wifi when most people get acceptable 3/4G service around town ?
Because not everybody is willing to pay hundreds of dollars per year for 3/4G, and some people are too shy to ask random individuals to let them tether to their device.