Ethics and Privacy

The implications for many individuals regarding their personal data being collected without their consent is huge. Most of the time, users agree to never-ending user agreements on data collection that don’t clearly and explicitly state the use and conditions of information being collected. 

According to a New York Times article, location data sold to marketing companies can include a 30 digit anonymous identifier that could be combined with other data sets to create one’s comprehensive profile. This is a major security issue as the user’s personal information is revealed, and many vulnerable groups can be identified with this kind of data set. 

Furthermore, there is no opt-out option to use an app while rejecting data collection. Presently, great strides have been made in the past year with apps now requesting permission to track your data when not using the app and communicating cross-app as well as in terms of policy. However, there needs to be further accountability towards the final users as to the use of their data. Data subjects must be informed about the collection and use of their personal data when the data is obtained.

Apart from the consenting members of the research team, the data collected for this study does not have any human subjects, nor was there any data collected that could risk identifiable information. The dataset only contains location of beacons and their details. 

Source:

Kwet, M. (2019). In stores, secret bluetooth surveillance tracks your every move. The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html?mtrref=www.nytimes.com&assetType=PAYWALL&gwh=4DD61B388451242248DBFFE1CE7D3942&gwt=pay.