Trash bins are now using Wi-Fi technology to track individuals on their smartphones
London, UK - Utilizing Wi-Fi technology within the infrastructure of the now tech-equipped trashcans, new ‘Renew Pods’ spy trashcans have been placed throughout the financial district of London. The trash cans actually go ahead and utilize their internet connectivity to collect information from your smartphones without your permission (or any form of warning)
Renew, the London-based marketing firm behind the smart trash cans, bills the Wi-Fi tracking as being “like Internet cookies in the real world” (see the promotional video below). In a press release, it boasts of the data-collection prowess of the cans’ embedded Renew “ORB” technology, which captures the unique media access control (MAC) address of smartphones that belong to passersby.
During a one-week period in June, just 12 cans, or about 10 percent of the company’s fleet, tracked more than 4 million devices and allowed company marketers to map the “footfall” of their owners within a 4-minute walking distance to various stores.
The marketing materials don’t say this, but it might also be possible to attach specific attributes to the MAC addresses that are collected. A phone that goes into the women’s room probably belongs to a female, for instance, while a MAC address entering the Big and Tall clothing retailer probably belongs to a person of large carriage. People who don’t want to be tracked must first complete the form here, which requires them to divulge the MAC address of their smartphone.
There’s no indication that Renew is observing anything more than the MAC address of the phones that pass by. But there’s little stopping someone else—working for his own creepy motives or for a more nefarious company or government agency—from building a similar network that collects the same MAC address data and combines it with any unencrypted traffic that may leak out. At a minimum, that might include the names of wireless networks a particular phone regularly connects to, and in the event the phone is connected to an open Wi-Fi service while in range of the stalker boxes, the information could also include e-mail addresses, personal pictures, first and last names, and whether the person uses a dating website or other online services.
It includes your phone’s unique Media Access Control (MAC) address, which these Renew Pods collect without even the slightest warning. But that’s along with collecting other characteristics that are used to sell to advertisers in order to better ‘target’ you with advertising in the area.
From your phone’s unique identification address to its manufacturer, model, and even speed, these spy cans know more about your phone than you do — all without asking.
According to a report from tech website GigaOM:
“If you’re wondering just how legal all this is, then you’re not alone. It turns out that recording your precise location as well as your phone’s Media Access Control (MAC) address constitutes the gathering of personal data. In the UK, that means asking permission — which the trash cans aren’t doing.”
The City of London Corporation has asked a company to stop using recycling bins to track the smartphones of passers-by.
A spokesman for the City of London Corporation 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."
http://www.lossofprivacy.com/index.php/2013/08/trash-bins-in-london-are-stalking-you/
http://www.storyleak.com/wi-fi-trashcans-tracking-your-smartphone-data/
http://qz.com/112873/this-recycling-bin-is-following-you/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23665490