Story: Mug Punter
Commercial billboards and signage use to be aimed at a demographic. There was a target audience figured out by the client along with the advertising gurus and the tricky, clever bit that cost a lot of money was tailoring the billboard content to suit that audience — which still represented a few million or so people.
With digital signage, embedded cameras, social media and — most important of all — recognition software, there’s an alarming trend to target you. Yes, you — sitting at your desk and reading this highly informative magazine instead of doing something useful. For some years we’ve had cameras in discreet locations, scanning and categorising passers-by so that digital signage further down the street can display information relevant to you. Now, as you’ve seen elsewhere this issue, electronic billboards can pin-point the make, model and colour of your car on the freeway and display a personalised message as you drive past — which should result in an overwhelming increase in rear-end collisions, if nothing else.
The question is, how long before this sort of technology begins to recognise you instead of just the car you’re driving? Rather than, “Hey, rusty old white Rodeo with a dent in the back where you reversed into your own trailer, you idiot — isn’t it time you bought a Lexus?” the sign might display “Hey, Mister Mug Punter, have you really been at the pub for lunch all this time?”. Then it’ll send an email to your boss. Call it the bastard non-drinking, whistle-blowing sign.
This might all sound a bit too Big Brother-like (the George Orwell type, not the bleating celebrity sort), but who would have thought we’d come this far? There’s already high-speed registration plate scanning, face recognition… it’s not a matter of lacking the technology. “Ah, but I’m not personally in any database,” I hear you say. Of course, you’re not. Certainly not in any commercial ones, at least. Okay, maybe a few mailing lists and obviously some software registrations…
Who are you kidding? I have a mate called Pete, who’s been mentioned in these pages before, who is the most naive computer owner in the world. This guy wants his computer to do everything, except his knowledge of installing specific software and hardware is very limited. As a result Pete’s a download-aholic, madly clicking on every freebie offer he sees that promises to turn his PC into a 21st Century Big Blue, and he’s completely ignorant of all the extraneous malware and browser extensions these services slip through your PC’s letterbox if you’re not careful. Pete’s almost brand-new computer is sitting on my table right now waiting to be delivered back to the “computer man” to be cleansed of Windows crashes, BSODs and daily melt-downs (he’s blissfully trotted off for a holiday and asked me to drop the PC in the shop). The point is that aside from installing malware, Pete’s also on every email mailing list database on the planet. And he ticked — or rather, he didn’t untick — those boxes that gave permission for his personal information to be used.
An extreme example, but we’ve all done it and in some cases are still doing it, learning the hard way, and surely it can’t be long before those sneaky email databases begin chatting with those shifty cameras on the footpaths and escalators, passing the info on to the filthy, dobbing face recognition technology — and before you know it, your email Inbox gets a message saying, ‘Hey Mr Mug Punter, we saw you buying flowers and chocolate for your wife. How about tickets to a movie, too?’
Except they weren’t for your wife who, incidentally, get all your messages in her Inbox too…
See the problem? It might go well beyond just spotting your car driving down the wrong road at the wrong time and innocently sending an email flogging you a new set of tyres. Recognition software could pick you out of a crowd at the worst of times, tap into a database that’s supposed to keep your PC registry clean — but they sold the information onto a fast food company — and the next morning an offer in your Inbox for extra fries and a chocolate shake reveals that a promised dietary discipline is well and truly busted. They say “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. Well, you should try a woman who discovers you’ve been sneaking in cheese burgers during the hellish pains of a diet you’re supposed to be sharing. They might as well have included divorce papers with the napkins.
So while it’s all very clever and impressive that digital signage might evolve into targeting me personally, perhaps even reminding me of impending birthdays and wedding anniversaries as I walk past confectionary shops (thanks bloody Facebook) I’d much rather be part of a large, anonymous bunch called a ‘demographic’. I don’t want to be individually recognised by a dozen digital signage systems aside from being picked as a grumpy baby-boomer kind of person who’s a sucker for discounted jeans, happy hours and a cheap steak.
And by the way, if this story prompts any water-cooler conversations I’d appreciate it if no one mentions the cheese burger thing. You never know who’s listening.
Mug Punter’s curmudgeonly carping does not necessarily reflect the views of DigitalSignage. If you have a differing view contact the editor Chris Holder on chris@dsmag.com.au