XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Malls track shoppers' cell phones on Black Friday - will follow shoppers' paths from store to store -

Malls track shoppers' cell phones on Black Friday - will follow shoppers' paths from store to store - 


Attention holiday shoppers: your cell phone may be tracked this year.
Starting on Black Friday and running through New Year's Day, two U.S. malls -- Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. -- will track guests' movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones.


While the data that's collected is anonymous, it can follow shoppers' paths from store to store.
The goal is for stores to answer questions like: How many Nordstrom shoppers also stop at Starbucks? How long do most customers linger in Victoria's Secret? Are there unpopular spots in the mall that aren't being visited?
While U.S. malls have long tracked how crowds move throughout their stores, this is the first time they've used cell phones.
But obtaining that information comes with privacy concerns.
The management company of both malls, Forest City Commercial Management, says personal data is not being tracked.
"We won't be looking at singular shoppers," said Stephanie Shriver-Engdahl, vice president of digital strategy for Forest City. "The system monitors patterns of movement. We can see, like migrating birds, where people are going to."
Still, the company is preemptively notifying customers by hanging small signs around the shopping centers. Consumers can opt out by turning off their phones.


Read more - 
http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/technology/malls_track_cell_phones_black_friday/index.htm

AIG Sues U.S. Taxpayers for $25 Billion…Really - claims the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional -

AIG Sues U.S. Taxpayers for $25 Billion…Really - claims the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional - 


A company run by former American International Group Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg Monday filed a $25 billion lawsuit against the United States, claiming that the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional. In its complaint, Greenberg’s Starr International said that in bailing out AIG [AIG 21.01 --- UNCH ] and taking a nearly 80 percent stake, the government failed to compensate existing shareholders. It said this violated the Fifth Amendment, which bars the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.


“The government’s actions were ostensibly designed to protect the United States economy and rescue the country’s financial system,” Starr said. “Although this might be a laudable goal, as a matter of basic law, the ends could not and did not justify the unlawful means employed.”


The United States, it went on, “is not empowered to trample shareholder and property rights even in the midst of a financial emergency.”


Monday’s lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., which handles lawsuits seeking money from the government. Once the world’s largest insurer by market value, AIG accepted $182.3 billion of federal bailouts beginning on Sept. 16, 2008, amid a liquidity crisis spurred by its exposure to risky debt through credit default swaps.


Do you think maybe he was a major stockholder? Unbelievable. The guillotine is way too good for this crook.


Read more - 
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2011/11/22/aig-sues-u-s-taxpayers-for-25-billion-really/