You’re probably aware that your online activities are tracked by all sorts of marketing malarkey, starting from the humble cookie upwards. But what about in-store ads? How would you feel if you knew they were tracking you, defining you and setting up advertising targeted at you? Turns out it’s already a reality.
The Courier Mail reports on the adoption of in-store display panels that use facial recognition technology to identify your age, gender and mood, and serve you ads based on what it detects. So if you’re licking your lips, you’d get more ads for Maccas or KFC, presumably, unless you’re a bloke in a lingerie store, in which case you’ll simply get thrown out.
The Australian firm that distributes the technology Yeahpoint, claims that it’s only used for demographic targeting rather than building profiles of individual shoppers, and that an (unnamed) retail chain has already installed around 130 surveillance displays around the country.[Courier Mail]
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