How Target's Mobile App Uses Location Tech To Track You

An anonymous reader writes Big-box retailers are figuring out how to use mobile apps to drive in-store sales, but they're also concerned about privacy. To see how they're doing, Xconomy took Target's app for a spin on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The app uses indoor location-mapping technology from a startup called Point Inside. The verdict? The app saved a few minutes in locating items around the store, but it would work better if it knew where shoppers (and the items on their lists) are at any time. With Apple's iBeacons set to roll out more widely, retail privacy will be a hot issue in 2015.

Comments

Privacy indépendant from beacons

[SuperKendall]

What matters is not if an app can tell where you are in the store, but if and when the app shares that information with a server. I don't care what information an application collects, if the data stays in-app.

Of course the great likelihood is that an app that collects that information will probably send that to a server, at the very least to query for specifics around you... but a smart app developer could provide a privacy option for users while still gaining benefit from iBeacons and the like.

Re:Privacy indépendant from beacons

[davester666]

These apps, fitness tracking apps, car monitoring apps, they all COULD work just fine without uploading everything to the vendor's server. But now, vendors have the belief that you didn't pay enough when you purchase merchandise from them. You need to further monetized, by selling information about you to other companies.

Re: yea no

[Charliemopps]

Obviously you haven't shopped at best buy or toys r us lately. They kill Amazon on price and selection

So Best Buys Book section is better than Amazons? And their Jewelry? Cutlery? Clothing?
Oh wait, they don't have any of that stuff... I'd better go check Toys R Us... lol

And on price? Yes, I have been to Best Buy lately... I went to get a network cable to replace a broken one. It was $29.99 for a single cable. They had much cheaper ones on their website but they're not available locally. And the cables they had at the store weren't listed on the website.

So I suspect you're comparing their websites... ok... but that's basically the same service. The store has entirely different products and different prices and it's worthless.

Re:yea no

[RabidReindeer]

There's no reason to shop at a retailer unless you're desperate and need something now

Sometimes it's actually nice to fondle the merchandise. There's only so much you can get out of an online catalog, especially since the pictures are usually pretty poor.

I was beginning to believe the Radio Shack mantra, until I wandered into my neighborhood store the other day. They had an impressive array of sensors and kits for stand-alone, Rasberry Pi, Basic Stamp and Arduino, as well as the aforementioned systems themselves. Also the LittleBits stuff, including the Korg synth.

Plus essential cables, connectors and adapters, various useful batteries for UPS's, alarm systems and Roomba.

Oh yeah. And cell phones. And a handful of TVs.

And a whole rack full of soldering irons. And the parts cases.

So they're not quite as useless as they've been made out to be.

As for price, I'm not so impoverished that getting the Low Price Always is the overriding criteria for my purchasing decisions.