Cameras in malls: just another brick in the wall?
News that the company that operates Cadillac Fairview Shopping Centres, including CF Lime Ridge, has been using surveillance cameras inside its electronic information maps isn’t causing much of a stir. Maybe we’ve finally gotten used to watching our privacy dissipate, sometimes in small ways, sometimes in large ones.
Just in case you’re not a mall veteran, the maps in question are the large stationary ones with the information logo on the side. The ones you seek out when you don’t know where that particular shop is in a massive mall. They’re usually easy to find and work well, especially for those of us who don’t frequent malls enough to know them like the backs of our hands.
Well, it turns out that you may be getting helpful directions, but Cadillac Fairview is getting something in exchange. Your personal data.
Inside those maps are cameras to assess age and gender through use of facial recognition software. Your mug is being watched and analyzed as you peer at the map looking for that retail location.
Maybe you don’t care. Last week, it was revealed that the company has been using the technology in one of its many malls, in Calgary. Company officials were asked where else it is in use, but they declined to say. More on that later.
The point is the reaction was muted. Maybe most Canadians were at the cottage, or lounging in the yard. Or maybe, to borrow from Messers Gilmour and Waters, we’re all feeling comfortably numb.
We suspect it’s the latter. This is hardly the worst privacy hack. Consider what Google and Facebook have been doing. Consider the explosive growth in closed-circuit cameras in public and private spaces. Consider the snooping we inadvertently trigger when we use our own devices. What’s a little more privacy blood spilled amid the slaughter?
There is this, though. Cadillac Fairview didn’t handle this well, in our view. Asked about where else the technology is being used, the company declined to say. Their rationale was that they are not storing the collected images, merely using the relevant data for their business and marketing. Therefore, the data is “proprietary.” Think about that. What they’re saying is that it’s fine for them to secretly record your personal features, but it’s not OK for you to know they’re doing so or anything else about the practice or outcome.
Given that their malls are private property, the company is probably well within its legal rights. We’ll find out when the inevitable legal challenge comes along and a judgment is rendered.
But it doesn’t have to be this hard. The company could simply agree to post notices on their mall information maps that let customers know they are being recorded, and the data is used for commercial purposes but not for resale or other distribution.
In short, if Cadillac Fairview really doesn’t think it’s doing anything inappropriate, legally or ethically, then it should have no problem with being open about the practice and giving customers the choice to take part. Having your mug screened probably beats wandering aimlessly to find that elusive shoe store or alteration shop. Doesn’t it?
It doesn’t have to be this hard. The company could simply agree to post notices on their mall information maps that let customers know they are being recorded, and the data is used for commercial purposes but not for resale or other distribution.