Tag: geolocation marketing

InMobi has agreed to settle charges from US FTC and will pay nearly $1 million in penalties.

Illegal location tracking charges have been placed against Indian-based mobile advertising company InMobi by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The mobile ad network is subject to a $4 million fine by the FTC for deceptively tracking the locations of consumers. However, the fine was lowered to $950,000, due to the company’s financial condition.

Hundreds of millions of consumers were tracked, including children.

The FTC alleges that InMobi illegally tracked consumers’ locations and used this information for behaviorally targeted advertising. InMobi’s advertising software tracked the locations of consumer’s when they opted in, but not always in accordance with their device’s privacy settings. The company was actually tracking the locations of consumers regardless of whether or not the apps using the company’s software asked the consumer’s permission. Even when consumer denied permission to access their location information, they were tracked anyway.

To make matters worse, according to the FTC, InMobi also violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It did so by collecting information from applications that were directed at children, even though InMobi promised that it didn’t.

What the FTC discovered was that InMobi developed a database built on the information the company gathered from consumers who allowed InMobi to access their geolocation data. This data was combined with the wireless networks that were near consumers in order to document the physical location of the actual wireless networks. The company then used that database to deduce the consumer’s physical location based on the networks they were close to. This occurred even when they had the location collection feature of their device turned off.

In addition to its illegal location tracking fine, InMobi must adhere to stiff rules.

Aside from paying the $950,000 fine, InMobi must also delete all the data it collected from children. The company will be prohibited from collecting the location information from consumers without their express consent. They will also be required to honor the location privacy settings of their consumers. Additionally, information collected without consent must also be deleted.

The settlement resulting from the illegal location tracking fiasco will also require InMobi to set up a comprehensive privacy program. For the next 20 years, this privacy program will be independently audited every two years.

The partnership has brought the two companies together for the Magnum ice cream app, using iBeacon.

Tesco has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Unilever in order to roll out geolocation technology in the form of iBeacons in 270 of its stores.

This location based tech will function to trigger exclusive savings opportunities and offers.

Through the use of geolocation technology, consumers who have downloaded and installed the Mpulse mobile app will receive offers and discount coupons whenever they pass within a certain distance of one of the participating Tesco locations. The iBeacons will be installed into the Tesco Express stores within the first rollout of this tech. It will become the largest trial of location based marketing that either of those massive brands has experienced.

The initial geolocation technology based campaign will trigger offers for the Black and Pink Magnum products.

These push notifications will be sent automatically to passersby in order to give them the opportunity to take advantage of special deals that will remain valid from the time that they receive them until the end of the month. The Mpulse app is available for download at both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

According to the global brand director at Magnum, Neil Gledhill, “We’re always looking at innovative ways to deliver on Magnum’s brand promise of delivering pleasure and to be able to do it at scale with a partner like Tesco is fantastic.”

The managing director at Tesco Convenience, Tony Reed, also went on to explain that they are always on the lookout to find new and engaging methods of encouraging their customers to return to shop while being able to take advantage of attractive offers at the same time. “With summer on the way, we’re delighted to trial this concept and can’t wait to get our customers’ feedback.”

The geolocation technology based mobile app was developed using Urban Airship tech, by the Karmarama agency. It functions in conjunction with iBeacons, which create a type of geofence around a specific location. Customers traveling within that designated area will receive the deals through their apps.