Dive Summary:
- London recycling bins are using advanced technology to monitor smartphones, giving advertisers the ability to display targeted messages geared towards individuals as they walk by.
- 100 bins were placed throughout London by Renew, a startup that sells space to advertisers, with 12 containing devices that enable it to track identification numbers, a technology developed by Presence Aware.
- Renew anticipates placing bins in cities throughout the world, with New York City, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.
From the article:
The bins record a unique identification number, known as a MAC address, for any nearby phones and other devices that have Wi-Fi turned on.
That [unique id number] allows Renew to identify if the person walking by is the same one from yesterday, even her specific route down the street and how fast she is walking.
In the first month after installing the trackers, Renew says it picked up over a million unique devices.
