The FTC has recently alleged that a small mobile tracking firm that was acquired by Brickstream in 2014 (after the activities in question) has improperly used mobile tracking. Specifically, they claim that while they said that users could opt out of the tracking, there was never actually an option to do so. The activities in question took place over a nine month period in 2013.
The FTC settlement paperwork said, “Consumers who did not opt out on Nomi’s website and instead wanted to make the opt-out decision at retail locations were unable to do so, despite the explicit promise in Nomi’s privacy policies. Consumers were not provided any means to opt out at retail locations and were unaware that the service was even being used.”
The FTC seems to be taking a closer look at a variety of different aspects related to in-store mobile tracking. This technology got a lot of press when it first became available, but has largely fallen out of the news. Many retailers, however, are using it and it seems that the FTC is starting to have concerns about how well it has been regulated by the industry.
The settlement agreed upon by the FTC and accepted by Nomi was a fairly minor punishment. There was no fine against them and Nomi simply had to agree to following the FTC’s regulations in the future and submit to standard monitoring. This case may be more of a warning by the FTC to the retail mobile tracking industry than anything else.
Nomi released a statement about the situation saying, “We are pleased to reach this agreement. We continually review our privacy policies to ensure that they follow best practices and had already made the recommended changes in pursuit of that goal by updating our privacy policy over a year and a half ago. Our mission is to help clients deliver the best possible customer experience, and a key part of achieving that goal is empowering consumers with choice.”
