London concerned over trash cans collecting smartphone data
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Authorities in London's financial district on Monday ordered a company using high-tech trash cans to collect smartphone data from passers-by to cease its activities, and referred the firm to the privacy watchdog.
The City of London Corporation, which manages the so-called "Square Mile" around St Paul's Cathedral, said such data collection "needs to stop" until there could be a public debate about it.
The start-up company responsible, Renew, claims the technology could help advertisers tailor their marketing campaigns based on how often people pass a certain shop and how long they stay in there.
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Chief executive Kaveh Memari said trials were at a very early stage and his company was only counting the number of people walking past -- without collecting any personal details.
He dismissed as alarmist concerns that individuals were being tracked, telling AFP: "We can't really track people, we don't see people -- all we see is a device."
But a City of London spokesman said: "Irrespective of what's technically possible, anything that happens like this on the streets needs to be done carefully, with the backing of an informed public.
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"We have already asked the firm concerned to stop this data collection immediately and we have also taken the issue to the Information Commissioner's Office."
Renew installed its high-tech recycling bins around London during last year's Olympic Games. The "pods" are bomb-proof and wi-fi-enabled and have digital screens showing real-time financial information, adverts and local information.
They company hopes to expand to other cities including New York, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro, which is hosting the 2016 Olympics.
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This summer, the firm began testing if the pods could collect data from smartphones, and during one week in June registered more than half a million unique devices.
It recorded the brand and also hopes to map footfall around specific areas, which it said "provides an unparalleled insight into the past behaviour of unique devices - entry/exit points, dwell times (time spent in a location), places of work, places of interest, and affinity to other devices".
However, Memari said this was still in the future, telling AFP: "The implications of where this technology could go, got a lot more exciting than actually what our trial was."
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He compared the technology to websites which count the number of hits or unique visitors -- they provide a measure of use but do not know who those people are.
And he insisted that using such data for targeted advertising -- for example by noting that a person regularly visits one coffee shop and showing them ads for a rival chain -- would be implemented in discussion with data protection groups.
He said: "Future developments will not just depend on technology, but also, most importantly, on people being comfortable with interactive technology."