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Amazon patent could let it track you... and predict you-gctid47774

Started by Ajamu, Dec 15, 2011, 05:12 PM

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Dec 15, 2011, 05:12 PM
Amazon patent could let it track you... and predict you | Business Tech - CNET News

     by Erik Sherman    December 14, 2011 12:58 PM PST  
     
   
(Credit: morgueFile user kconnors)

Location tracking has become a hot privacy issue. Google, Apple  and Microsoft have all stepped into massive PR messes over the question.  Now there's a new entrant: Amazon.

 A patent, made public last week, covers a system to not only track,  through mobile devices (Kindle, anyone?), where individuals or  aggregated users have been, but determine where they're likely to go next  to better target ads, coupons, or other messages that could appear on a  mobile phone or on displays that individuals are likely to see on their  routes. The system could also use someone's identity to further tailor  the marketing according to demographic information.

 You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry

The patent, granted on Dec. 6, was first applied for in March 2007. As  with any patent or application, there are two big considerations. One is  the extent of the legal protection the claims seek, which describes the  specific system. That tells you how easily the company could use the  patent as a defensive or offensive competitive weapon. The other is the  insight you can get into a company's strategy.

 We'll start by looking at the first independent claim of the patent:A system, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to  the processor, wherein the memory comprises program instructions  executable by the processor to: determine one or more locations a user  of a mobile device has visited on a current path; predict a next  destination for the user of the mobile device based on the one or more  locations the user of the mobile device has visited on the current path,  wherein to predict the next destination, the program instructions are  further executable to: predict a plurality of likely destinations, and  receive one or more bids for communicating advertising content regarding  one or more of the likely destinations for the user of the mobile  device, wherein the next destination corresponds to a likely destination  for which a selected bid was received; and communicate advertising  content to a display device other than the mobile device located along  the current path between a current location for the mobile device and  the next destination.Breaking it down, a mobile device determines/provides locations. The  system calculates a path and then predicts a set of likely next  destinations. Then the system takes bids from third parties that want to  send marketing messages to displays along the route the person takes,  probably monitoring speed and direction to time displays for maximum  chance of visibility.

 Additional claims make clear that the ad could also go to the mobile  device -- including a message to tell the person to look over at a  particular display. Shades of a science fiction story (or Minority Report), , where personalized ads follow and appear on public displays wherever you go. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQbVD5hlddk]Minority Report[/ame])

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   What is most interesting in this patent isn't how easily Amazon might  block competitors from using similar systems, though the protection  might be broad enough to enable that. The key is how Amazon is  approaching the strategy of literally following people and trying to  guess where they'll go and what they're interested in.

 They know when you're awake

According to the patent's description, location could be specific spots inside a mall:In some embodiments, mobile device users' current and past  travel patterns may be analyzed to determine a predicted next  destination. For instance, by analyzing the recent movements of a mobile  device user among stores in a shopping mall, it may be determined that a  particular store is a predicted next destination for the mobile device  user. Thus, advertising content for the predicted destination, such as  coupons, may be sent to the mobile device user.This is a bare-knuckled approach to tracking and analysis that other  companies have yet to publicly admit (though it doesn't mean they aren't  working on similar concepts). Consider what "analyzing" would mean.  It's unlikely to only be examining a pattern of movement, though that  would obviously be part of it. Such a system goes beyond malls:For example, a mobile device user may be tracked while  attending a large entertainment venue or sporting event and coupons  advertising a discount at a restaurant that the mobile device user is  likely to visit based on the user's traffic or travel patterns at the  entertainment venue or sporting event. Similarly, mobile device users  attending a large venue may be tracked and provided coupons for vendors  the mobile device users are likely to pass based on their recent travel  patterns in and around the venue.Location ties to function. If you know what sort of establishment is  at a spot, you can start to make more intelligent guesses of what a  person is doing. The more stops, the more chances of putting together a  picture of what a person is doing. And if you store this data over time,  you might build a more complete picture.

 They're everywhere, they're everywhere

Now consider where the ads might show up. It's not hard to imagine  Amazon trying to partner with retailers that have TVs, computer  monitors, digital signs, or other ways of displaying advertising.

 Amazon's approach is more sophisticated than the usual proximity  marketing, where a person's location would trigger messages for nearby  businesses. Maybe GPS provides the location, or maybe cell tower  triangulation, according to the patent.

 But location determination isn't limited to those. You could locate  someone based on a mobile commerce purchase, where some company or other  notes the exact store in which the purchase was made. Technically, you  could pinpoint someone based on Wi-Fi hotspot triangulation (an approach  that both Apple and Google can use). Maybe such a system uses facial  recognition and licenses surveillance camera data to literally see who  is around.

 Not all patents get turned into products or services, but this one  might be too tempting to pass up. Is such a system ready to roll out to  Kindle software running on mobile devices? Will it be included on  Kindles? Has it been already?

 CBS MoneyWatch has asked Amazon to make someone available to discuss  the patent and its implications. We'll update this post with any  response.
Dec 15, 2011, 06:57 PM #1
Another reason not to get a smart phone. I'm glad I don't have one. Although I know you can still be tracked with a regular cell phone, it's not as intrusive as what they can do with smart phones.
:gyenyame:
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