500 Bluetooth Beacons Installed in NYC, Triggering Privacy Concerns
- Sunday, October 5th, 2014
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OOH ad firm Titan has installed 500 Bluetooth beacons in payphone booths across New York City.
The beacons, first spotted by BuzzFeed, are manufactured by Gimbal – a proximity marketing firm which was founded as part of Qualcomm Labs but went solo this May. They have actually been in place for as long as a year and are reportedly concentrated in the central and lower areas of Manhattan.
While the installations were approved by the citys Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, BuzzFeed has raised concerns about the lack of both a public approval process and transparency from the citys agency.
Theres no word if these beacons have so far been used to run ad campaigns.