“It’s treating the phone as if someone has put a bug on you.”At the Helsinki airport installation, beacon sensors will monitor smartphones that access the airport's WiFi network as they move around.

Beacon sensors will be able to monitor smart phones that access Helsinki airport's WiFi as passengers move through the terminal. Photo: Supplied

The technology will allow a retailer to send a special offer to a customer as he or she passes by a certain shop. It will also enable the airport to manage crowds and avoid bottlenecks in the terminals.But the airport has not said when it will roll out the tracking program.“The fact that my movements are tracked is a scarier thought than someone knowing which websites I visit, the security response director at software maker F-Secure Oyj, Antti Tikkanen,True Religion Cologne Gift Set, told .“I have a hard time believing location-tracking is only left at statistics when the same technology makes so many other things possible.”In Australia, 65 shopping centres can locate customers once they opt in to their WiFi service inside the shopping centre, according to digital marketing firm DC4GAt Westfield Burwood, DC4G said it was piloting an analytical program in the shopping centre's food court, tracking how many people use the space, how long they stay for and whether they are repeat visitors.But it wasn't pinpointing shopper's exact locations or their identities, DC4G said.The information is all gathered through mobile phone signatures - and without consent.Westfield could not verify that the program exists.But in a response to an ABC TV Four Corners investigation last year, the company said there are only 3 Westfield centres in Australia which have Wi-Fi infrastructure in place . These are the only centres which therefore have the capacity to track the smart phones, however Westfield does not currently do this. DC4G insists that the device signatures are anonymous and only track the device, not the person. The beacon is in essence a light house, said DC4G chief operating officer Robert Alinger. It has a unique identifier that it transmits a number, nothing else,True Religion Hats For Girls, adding that his company is completely opposed to tracking. The pass sees this number and if the number matches one that is programmed into the pass it displays a preloaded message on the screen. It does not know who you are or where you are and it sends nothing back saying it has seen that beacon. Last year, US retailer operations after consistent customer complaints about privacy invasion. Some critics fear the information gathered from the beacons could be coupled with data recorded from free WiFi services, compromising the anonymity of the devices. DC4G insists that the data from the two tools is kept separate. That’s a separation that has to be maintained, Mr Vaile said. People are always looking for WiFi, Mr Alinger said. “We don’t even have to put signs up, they just search for it.”For those customers who opt in to the WiFi service and download the pass via their browser it allows retailer beacons to locate you within the shopping centre.When you walk past a particular store, the beacon can send a notification to the phone's lock screen with the latest offer, Mr Alinger said.“We are trying to turn the online world on its head, so that people come back to bricks and mortar.”But even when people accept terms and conditions, privacy advocates are concerned about the degree to which people can maintain informed consent.“Facebook and Apple have destroyed your capability to read the fine print,True Religion Julie Skinny,” Mr Vaile said. “It's trained you to click the button because you want that product now.”