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Amazon Granted a Patent That Prevents In-Store Shoppers From Online Price Checking (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the you-shall-not-pass dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Amazon's long been a go-to for people to online price compare while shopping at brick-and-mortars. Now, a new patent granted to the company could prevent people from doing just that inside Amazon's own stores. The patent, titled "Physical Store Online Shopping Control," details a mechanism where a retailer can intercept network requests like URLs and search terms that happen on its in-store Wi-Fi, then act upon them in various ways. The document details in great length how a retailer like Amazon would use this information to its benefit. If, for example, the retailer sees you're trying to access a competitor's website to price check an item, it could compare the requested content to what's offered in-store and then send price comparison information or a coupon to your browser instead. Or it could suggest a complementary item, or even block content outright. Amazon's patent also lets the retailer know your physical whereabouts, saying, "the location may be triangulated utilizing information received from a multitude of wireless access points." The retailer can then use this information to try and upsell you on items in your immediate area or direct a sales representative to your location.

11 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Yet another reason to never use in-store wifi by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not only will they track you and spy on you. but now they'll also censor your browsing.

    At least they're not just silently modifying the traffic to mislead you...yet...

    Now what's that theory about all participants in capitalism requiring perfect information about the market?

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:Yet another reason to never use in-store wifi by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Consumers are on the receiving end of capitalism. They're not capitalists. What more perfect information can you get than a capative audience on your in-store wifi network?

    2. Re:Yet another reason to never use in-store wifi by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps, given that Amazon has like, two retail locations, the point of this is to prevent other sellers like, oh, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc, from being able to block retail customers from searching for Amazon pricing on items they find in-store?

      'cause it seems to me that if a seller doesn't really have a brick-and-mortar presence, that this patent doesn't help them actively.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    3. Re:Yet another reason to never use in-store wifi by spikesahead · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would I EVER connect to in-store wifi? Even if they manage to change the law enough to let them turn the store into a faraday cage, I can still GO OUTSIDE and find out anything I want.

      --
      bend like the reed
    4. Re:Yet another reason to never use in-store wifi by dkone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would you ever 'jump on' wifi in a store? Even if my wifi is turned on, I have to manually connect to any new networks. My experience this dates back to Best Buy and their in-store price lookup kiosks. Not sure if they still have them, but a few years back I had looked up the price of something at home saw it was in stock at the local Best Buy. Went there to purchase but the price was something like 100 dollars more. I asked the associate what was up, told him I just verified the price on the their website was less. He takes me to one of the pricing kiosks, looks up the part and shows me it matches the in-store price. Since this was before I had a smart phone (like I said it was years ago), I ran home looked up the price again, printed it out, went back to the store and got the item for that price. Turns out the in-store kiosks either pointed to an intranet mirror of the public site or had different pricing. Bottom line is don't trust the wolf when he says he isn't going to eat you.

  2. So the question is this: by mark_reh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are they patenting it so they can license it, or so they can prevent others from doing it by not licensing it?

    1. Re:So the question is this: by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The real question is how this is even worthy of a patent.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:So the question is this: by e3m4n · · Score: 4, Insightful

      or license it to brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy, etc. If the licensing is enough to cover the margins Amazon gets for hosting a product, not only do they still make the profit margins they were expecting, but they dont have to expend labor and shipping in the process. It would be a legal, and unique, twist on the old mob shakedown 'fire insurance' scenario. Buy my amazon-blocking app and you'll never worry about lost sales from us.

  3. Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's called "wire tapping"

  4. In store Wi-Fi? Seriously? by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The patent, titled "Physical Store Online Shopping Control," details a mechanism where a retailer can intercept network requests like URLs and search terms that happen on its in-store Wi-Fi, then act upon them in various ways.

    WTF would anyone use in-store Wi-Fi in a retail store? I have trouble even imagining a meaningful benefit to this. I don't even use "free" Wi-Fi at places like the airport outside of an emergency. Cellular network connections are generally faster, more secure, more private, and less hassle.

  5. Who uses random wifi? by Pedestrianwolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am the only one that doesn't connect to an access point that I'm not familiar with?