ABSTRACT
As you enter a shopping mall, a guard pins a wireless tracking device on you. A real-time data feed allows stores to tailor their sales pitch to your path through the mall. (“You were just in Abercrombie and Fitch; we have better prices.”) The information is also stored for later analysis and distribution. When pinning on the device, the guard hands you a piece of paper that states that by accepting the device, you agree to the printed terms. Among other things, you agree to wear the device and to permit the data collection. Entering a store requires wearing one or more additional tracking devices, which pick up signals from merchandise to track what you look at and for how long. Additional pieces of paper assert your assent. You return some devices when you leave a store, but retain others that monitor your activity in other stores. By the time you leave the mall, you are covered in tracking devices. You return all of them except for the virtually invisible microscopic devices attached to your credit and debit cards. They will track you during your next visit to any shopping mall. The papers presented to you assert your agreement.
