Most of us breeze past the terms and conditions that come with free Wi-Fi networks and just hit “yes” so we can get online. When you sign into a shopping centre’s Wi-Fi, though, you might be agreeing to allow them to track you.
Photo by Tookapic.
The Wall Street Journal reports that many shopping centre landlords use your location data to track things like where you eat, how long you spend in certain parts of the shopping centre, and what stores you visit. They can also match that data with your social accounts or email for targeted ads.
This is nothing new, really — we’ve heard before that retail stores track you using your smartphone. However, you might be more likely to use a shopping centre’s Wi-Fi as opposed to a standalone store, as signal strength is often garbage inside of shopping centres. It’s something to be aware of next time you think about signing into their Wi-Fi. For more detail, head to the links below.
Shopping Malls Are Tracking Your Every Move [Wall Street Journal via Consumerist]
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