The grocery store got your location data and paid a shadowy group of marketers to use that information to target you with ads. These beacons are small, inobtrusive electronic devices that are hidden throughout the grocery store; an app on your phone that communicates with them informed the company not only that you had entered the building, but that you had lingered for two minutes in front of the low-fat Chobanis. In order to track you or trigger an action like a coupon or message to your phone, companies need you to install an app on your phone that will recognize the beacon in the store. Retailers (like Target and Walmart) that use Bluetooth beacons typically build tracking into their own apps. Companies like Reveal Mobile collect data from software development kits inside hundreds of frequently used apps. Apple and Google could be tracking you through iOS and Android, but they don’t make their Bluetooth beacon collection methods transparent. There is no easy way to determine which apps on your phone have the beacon location tracking built in. But there is nothing theoretical about Bluetooth beacon technology that follows you into retail stores (and other venues) and tracks your movement down to the meter.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=73736863&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8tpnlBJ10EGi1BydI8KZ0jArlxZMkYt6fBn8S6xRe_Jef4wu46sDsO14GPgcmDUPz8uOK87zUP-gJjcZmNSKhrE-feg-la-dMEWejGvpxu9OHZkJc&_hsmi=73736863
