Big Brother Billboards Steal Cell Phone Data, Spy on Daily Activities

Big Brother uses billboards to watch and track our every move.

It’s happening through Clear Channel’s Radar billboards. The system uses data from cell phone apps to track driver location and purchasing behaviors. Information is gathered on where we go, where we shop, our social media interests, and what TV programs we watch.  

Just like the National Security Agency (NSA), Clear Channel claims the collection of our raw data is anonymous and completely harmless. But data linked to a specific cell phone could easily uncover someone’s identity and build a detailed profile about that person’s daily life. 

The information is processed by some of the same companies that help the NSA spy on us. ATT and other technology companies gather the data from phone apps and then feed it to Clear Channel, ABC News reported. The information is used to help sell billboard ads. 

According to Clear Channel’s website, they are curently profiling sports fans, “fashionistas,” movie buffs, moms, and people with an interest in electronics and home improvements.

And the program is expanding. By August 2016, Clear Channel plans to have more than 1,800 audience segments for advertisers to paw through.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) wants to kick-off a federal investigation into the Radar billboards, ABC News reported.

“Your every move could be tracked, recorded, and stored,” Schumer said during a press conference in New York City’s Time Square, where Clear Channel runs many of the electronic billboards.

The company has more than 675,000 billboards worldwide.  In addition to billboards along the highways, the company targets advertising at airports, commuter rails, buses, news racks, and mobile interactive platforms.

It’s doubtful whether many people notice or care how much their privacy is under constant attack.

Abandon privacy, all ye who enter here
Signs on the doors of public transportation systems and businesses announce that everyone who enters is subject to video and audio recording. Just by entering, you agree to it.

For example, take a look at the ceiling the next time you visit a Subway restaurant. Chances are, it’s riddled with cameras and inconspicuous microphones. You are also taped and recorded when you visit QuikTrip convenience stores, according to signs on the doors and at the gas pumps.

When you’re under surveillance, everything you do is recorded and sent to “third parties.”

Schumer is not the first to question this shadowy world of third party data brokers.

In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report called Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability. The report found that data brokers often categorize people under headings that are unflattering or prejudicial.  

Data broker companies represent a multi-billion dollar industry that operates with little to no oversight, the FTC noted.

Information they gather is not supposed to influence decisions on credit-worthiness or employability. But it certainly could.

We already have Smart meters, Smart phones, Smart televisions, Smart appliances and other devices loaded with microphones, WiFi, and cameras. All of them can be used to repeatedly pry into our personal lives, often without our permission or knowledge.

Now we can add billboards to the list.

Data brokers would like us to believe our information is used solely for advertising. But there is no way to know the full extent of how our data is being gathered, stored, and sold.

It would be nice if a congressional investigation would tell us what exactly is going on. But it’s not likely to happen, given the power that lobbyists and corporations  have over our lawmakers.

Photo Illustration source: Morguefile.com

Clear Channel’s video about Radar: http://web.clearchanneloutdoor.com/radar 

Additional Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/schumer-probe-billboards-phone-data-track-shoppers-38794906?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_medium=social&utm_content=buffer7a54b&utm_source=twitter.com

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/data-brokers-call-transparency-accountability-report-federal-trade-commission-may-2014/140527databrokerreport.pdf

http://web.clearchanneloutdoor.com/radar

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/schumer-probe-billboards-phone-data-track-shoppers-38794906?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_medium=social&utm_content=buffer7a54b&utm_source=twitter.com

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/04/15/474405951/your-conversation-on-the-bus-or-train-may-be-recorded