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Schumer Wants Federal Trade Commission To Investigate Clear Channel's 'Spying Billboards'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate an advertising technique that uses mobile phone data to learn about people who pass by billboards.

An outdoor advertising company, Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, says it works with partner companies to match aggregated location data. It can then cater ads to specific consumers based on the demographics of passers-by and determine if the people eventually end up at the advertiser's stores.

The company uses aggregated data from partners, including AT&T. It says individual consumers cannot be identified.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, wants the FTC to investigate whether it is a deceptive trade practice because he says most people don't realize their location data is being monitored.

"Personal data should be just that -- personal. It shouldn't be a James Bond like tracking device for a corporation," Schumer said.

WCBS 880's Mike Smeltz reported Schumer is asking the FTC to create an opt-out for people passing by these "spying billboards."

"You should have to give them permission to follow you when you drive by or walk by a billboard," Schumer said.

But the company, which operates more than 675,000 billboards throughout the world, argues that characterization of its program is inaccurate, insisting it only uses anonymous data collected by other companies.

In a statement, company spokesman Jason King said the RADAR program is based on a years-old advertising technique that "uses only aggregated and anonymized information" from other companies that certify they're following consumer protection standards.

King also provided The Associated Press a copy of a letter it sent earlier this year to another lawmaker who has similarly raised concerns about the ad service and consumer protections.

The company "does not receive or collect personally identifiable information about consumers for use in Radar," CEO Scott Wells wrote in a March letter to Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat. "It's not necessary for the insights we are offering our advertising customers."

The ad program is a partnership between Clear Channel and other companies, including AT&T and technology companies that collects location data from smartphone apps, company officials have said.

In a video on its website, the company says it "measures consumers' real-world travel patterns and behaviors as they move through their day, analyzing data on direction of travel, billboard viewability, and visits to specific destinations." That information, the company says, is then mapped against Clear Channel's displays, which would allow advertisers to buy ads in places that would "reach specific behavioral audience segments."

Clear Channel uses "aggregate and anonymous mobile consumer information," the company said. The program gives marketers a "solution that provides a more accurate way to understand and target specific audience segments," Clear Channel's vice president, Andy Stevens, said in a news release announcing the initiative in February.

But an investigation into the company is necessary because most people don't realize their location data is being mined, even if they agreed to it at some point by accepting the terms of service of an app that later sells their location information, Schumer said.

The Federal Trade Commission did not immediately respond requests for comment.

 

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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