Exclusive: Hundreds Of Devices Hidden Inside New York City Phone Booths

[realizm]

 
Hours after BuzzFeed News published this report, City Hall asked Titan to remove the devices, which could have been used to push ads — and track phones.

A company that controls thousands of New York City’s phone booth advertising displays has planted tiny radio transmitters known as “beacons” — devices that can be used to track people’s movements — in hundreds of pay phone booths in Manhattan, BuzzFeed News has learned.

And it’s all with the blessing of a city agency — but without any public notice, consultation, or approval.

Titan, the outdoor media company that sells ad space in more than 5,000 panels in phone kiosks around the five boroughs, has installed about 500 of the beacons, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), Nicholas Sbordone, confirmed to BuzzFeed News.

Beacons are Bluetooth devices that emit simple signals that smartphones can pick up. They’re best known for their growing use in commercial settings: in stores, for example, to alert customers to sales, or in stadiums, to tell patrons which entrances are least crowded.

But the spread of beacon technology to public spaces could turn any city into a giant matrix of hidden commercialization — and vastly deepen the network of surveillance that has already grown out of technologies ranging from security cameras to cell phone towers.

Read more: Source

[RailRunRob]

Yeah BLE beacons. it's the new Technology there rolling it out in a big in retail locations as well. Ive worked with the Core Bluetooth frame work for some of the platforms we're working with.. Just a heads up Control Group the company thats behind the Train information kiosks there looking to expand there range with the same technology as well..   We've been looking to see how this technology can work on board trains as well and are in the process of talking to MTA brass. It's interesting stuff.

[R68 Subway Car]

Nothing is protected from surveillance these days. 

[QM1to6Ave]

Who knew there were still "hundreds of phone booths" in NYC??