I guess privacy can be important?

Well well... here's something that I already thought was pretty fabulous at one point in the semester, the Smart Signs. Digital billboards that recognize your vehicle with RFID implemented technology to cater marketing campaigns and promotions completely customized to your personal tastes and preferences. But, as with anything, with the ability to recognize your a/s/l, I mean your name/income/occupation, there could be possible flaws that need to be safeguarded.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, or CDT, has released a report on consumer privacy and digital signage entitled Building the Digital-Out-Of-Home Privacy Infrastructure. CDT has taken a new approach to the smart sign advertising world, emphasizing that one of the key ingredients to successfully marketing with these campaigns is to build consumer trust. As the reach of these advertising companies extends beyond tolerable limits for consumers, backlashes and consumer turbulence may help to handicap a billion dollar industry.

The emerging technologies that are being battled by the CDT are evident at this point in futuristic Sci-fi movies like Minority Report. Facial Recognition is one of the developing strategies to pinpoint demographics, race, gender, age, and even the amount of time spent watching the display. Hey now! I guess that's not all a bad thing, I'm just more bummed out that I wasn't the person to invent the technology. But, as mass consumers' information is being dissected by large corporations, our discretionary income may become a pawn of how the corporations want us to allocate our resources rather than how we want to budget our own money as individuals. I suppose the lines between marketing and deceit or manipulation can be blended, but in essence, to prevent any over extensive arm from high IQ signs, here's what the CDT laid out for the privacy policy:
     
A privacy policy should describe in concise, specific terms

• What consumer data is collected,
• How the data is collected,
• The purposes for which the data is used,
• With whom the data is shared,
• How the data is protected,
• How long the data is retained, and
• The choices that consumers have with respect to their data.

Now. Riddle me this. In our Western Culture where we delve into fast food technologies and continue to digest the possibilities of saving time and eliminating rational efforts into most of our work, who's going to read the privacy policy? I wouldn't be surprised if there was already ways to opt out of the facial recognition signage (perhaps the sign can recognize you as an opt-outer and it won't bother you!), but the quintessential stereotype of American shoppers is lazy and irrational. More importantly, this is an example of how being well-read and by being up do date with the emerging technologies around you, you can decide for yourself whether it's fit for your life or not. If there's a way out, and you really don't enjoy what you're seeing with the invasive advertisers, I'm sure it won't take long to google an answer on your smartphone and find out how to opt out of being a target.