Enlisting Cellphone Signals to Fight Road Gridlock

New York Times - November 11, 2005
Some states prohibit drivers from talking on hand-held cellphones lest they become distracted, slow down traffic, or worse, cause an accident. Others are finding that cellphones and driving may not be so bad together. Several state transportation agencies, including those in Maryland and Virginia, are starting to test technology that allows them to monitor traffic by tracking cellphone signals and mapping them against road grids. The technology underlines how readily cellphones can become tracking devices for private companies, law enforcement and government agencies - a development that deeply troubles privacy advocates. These new traffic systems can monitor several hundred thousand cellphones at once. The phones need only be turned on, not necessarily be in use. And advanced software now makes it possible to discern whether a signal is coming from, say, a moving car or a pedestrian. State officials say that the systems will monitor large clusters of phones, not individual ones, and that the benefits could be substantial. By providing a constantly updated picture of traffic flow across thousands of miles of highways, they maintain, cellphone tracking can help transportation agencies spot congestion and divert drivers with radio alerts or updated electronic road signs.

The Chapell View
There's a part of me that doesn't want to worry about this - after all, the Government tends to be pretty inept when it comes to storing and gather large amounts of data. And it's not abundantly clear to me how the capture of this data is going to benefit citizens and aide traffic reports anymore than say "Dave in the News 12 Chopper" already helps.

And the only way for someone to opt-out of this system is to turn their cell phone off, which kind of defeats the purpose for having a cell phone.

I'd be curious if this program would survice a challenge based upon the Telecommunications Act.

I grew up watching some of the 80's Action/Sci Fi flicks, many of which contemplated a future where nobody would get off the public grid. It's amazing how prophetic these movies have been - even the cheesy Aaahnold Shwartzenegger flicks.

It's bad enough that NYC subway riders are at risk of having their bags searched upon entry. What's next - a speeding ticket that's billed right to your cell phone? Land of the Free - not so fast...

Search Experts: Engines Face Prospect of Privacy Backlash

MediaPost - November 08, 2005
The major search engines are currently considering how to use the reams of demographic and psychographic data they're able to collect, but consumers might push back unless the search engines also address privacy concerns, search industry experts at Ad:Tech in New York said Monday.

The Chapell View
It's good that some have taken note of the search engines using what really boils down to behavioral targeting - using information about users and their past behaviors (in this case, the searches they've conducted) to determine ad placement in search results. In some cases, the search engines have done more than just consider such an idea - MSN, Yahoo! and AOL have all started using such marketing on a small scale recently.

For the most part, these moves have been somewhat under the radar, and there haven't been any major concerns raised over privacy issues. I think that's probably right: my inclination is to see the moves towards behavioral targeting in the search space as both unsurprising and largely benign. There seems little reason to take umbrage over the use of BT - which can be (and often is) good for both marketers and consumers.

That being said, I'm glad the issue of privacy is being discussed in the context of online profiling and search. Search guru John Battelle is quoted as saying "To get to the point where people are giving up this kind of information...we need to be able to see this information" and he's right. One of the concepts we talk about as privacy professionals is the "right of Access" to one's information. While it would no doubt take resources for search engines (and any type of DB marketer, for that matter) to provide individual users with some access to the info that's being collected on them, it might make certain users more willing to allow the search engines to collect that information.

Also, let's keep in mind that there's a cottage industry of what I will refer to as "anti-marketing technologies" which are being developed. "Anti-marketing technology" is probably a poor choice of words, but I am referring to things like spam-blockers, pop-up blockers, and anti-spyware (Adware) software programs. What most of these technologies have in common are their ability to provide the user with control over the operation of certain marketing channels. As this industry grows, so will their ability to determine which marketing technologies and processes are being used on a user's computer. If you were running a search engine, would you want a third party telling your user what you're doing with user search terms, or would you rather do it yourself?