Mall Privacy Flap Highlights Americans' Uncertainty About Proper Use of Location-Based Data, Attorney Says ; - Outcry Over Cell Phone Tracking Program Points to Need for More Discussion About Looming Legal and Societal Questions, Says Leclairryan's Kevin D. Pomfret

U.S. Newswire › December 06, 2011

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RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent brouhaha over a mall owner's use of cell phone tracking antennas to keep tabs on shoppers' locations is yet another example of the need for a national dialogue on privacy as it relates to location-based data, said LeClairRyan attorney Kevin D. Pomfret, a leading advisor in the rapidly developing fields of spatial law and geospatial technology.

"This was enough of a PR headache that the mall owner wisely decided to shelve the program for now," said Pomfret, a Richmond- based partner in LeClairRyan and Executive Director of the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy. "But there are much broader questions at play here: What does 'privacy' actually mean in this era of location- based technologies? What exactly are we trying to protect consumers from when we scuttle these types of programs? And what will happen if, perhaps out of emotional reactivity, we sharply limit the collection of location-based data without adequately weighing the potential economic and societal benefits these technologies provide?"

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Mall Privacy Flap Highlights Americans' Uncertainty About Proper Use of Location-Based Data, Attorney Says ; - Outcry Over Cell Phone Tracking Program Points to Need for More Discussion About Looming Legal and Societal Questions, Says Leclairryan's Kevin D. Pomfret

The involuntary tracking of cell phone signals is certainly an affront to some, Pomfret noted, but it is just one of many ways in which American businesses are now taking advantage ...

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