U.K ad firm uses Wi-Fi-enabled trash cans to track people

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LONDON -- Officials demanded Monday that an advertising firm stop using a network of high-tech trash cans to track people walking through London's financial district.
The Renew ad firm has been using technology embedded in the hulking receptacles to measure the Wi-Fi signals emitted by smartphones, and suggested that it would apply the concept of "cookies" -- tracking files that follow Internet users across the Web -- to the physical world.
"We will cookie the street," Renew Chief Executive Kaveh Memari said in June.

It's not enough the government spies on us. Now every advertiser in the world wants to spy on you. Tracking your cell phone's unique id number so it can tailor ads to you specifically. The ultimate in targetted marketting. 

The iTrashCan (as I call it) has a clock on it and can easily sport a video screen as well. One can imagine how entertaining it will be to call out your name and publically try and sell you condoms or other embarrassing products. 

   Plus it wants to store "cookies" on your phone. Heck no to that , why are you suddenly using my phone in a hostile manner against me ? And yes, I do mean "Hostile". Advertising companies are spending millions , each , to try and find out when you are most susceptable to a sales pitch , what kind of salespitch will most likely work on you, etc etc. Is it any wonder I accuse them of attempting mind control ? 

   And while the concept may sound ludicrous, well , they are spending a lot of money to try and make you do stuff you don't want to do ... sounds like they believe it's possible. Though I'm sure they'll find a nice user friendly name for it rather than "mind control".  "Customer Education" or some nonsense like that.