Location, Location, Location: The Use of Customer Location Data as a Walking Advertisement
Do you ever feel that the notifications on your phone pop up on your screen at the most convenient times? This is because companies such as Google, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ all use geofencing technology to track their customers to gauge their location and proximity to their products.
Geofencing is the use of GPS (geographic positioning system) to create a defined boundary in a digital setting that corresponds to a real-world location. chAn example of this may be a certain radius around Starbucks locations. Once a customer with their app enters Starbucks’ geofenced boundary, they may receive notifications of their favorite drink or a discount offer the customer may not have been previously aware of. This allows a convenience for lovers of the company to become aware of nearby locations and discounts.
However, drink companies are not the only ones using location data to track potential customers. Geofencing has also been used in a healthcare setting, an intrusion not just on consumer privacy, but health privacy as well. The National Public Radio reported that personal injury law firms had been sending digital advertisements to potential customers that were currently located in healthcare facilities.
But what if you didn’t consent to constantly being tracked by major locations such as Starbucks or Google? There are currently several lawsuits underway aiming to protect consumer privacy rights. In 2022, Google paid almost $392 million to over 40 U.S. states as it was found that Google had been secretly recording the movements of their users since at least 2014. According to Google, this location data being collected is to help marketers sell advertisements digitally. Yet, at the federal level, there is no comprehensive law regulating geolocation tracking.
For now, individuals can limit some exposure by turning off location permissions on apps. Still, as long as companies profit from precise consumer tracking, the debate between convenience and privacy remains. Geofencing illustrates the broad challenge of digital surveillance in modern society. Without comprehensive federal legislation, consumer protections remain fragmented and largely dependent on state-level action.