By Casey Kurlander
There is a brand new technology coming shortly that is sure to get people both excited and amazed, but also worried about their privacy. Red Pepper, an advertising agency that specializes in marketing technologies, has announced that it is in its final testing stage for Facedeals, a facial recognition- marketing app.
Facebook can already recognize faces and suggest the correct people to tag in pictures. Facedeals will use a similar technology, putting cameras on the outside of participating stores. If you opt into this service, the cameras will recognize your face, based on the pictures from your Facebook account, as you pass by the store and the service will simultaneously check you into that location on Facebook. You will be sent customized offers and discounts based upon your Facebook history, including products you “like.”
The app uses facial recognition in an effort to connect in a new seamless and more personalized way with consumers. “At Red Pepper, we explore technologies that can create relevant ways for marketing to intersect with consumers and their lives, as provide some added values,” said Red Pepper’s business director, Samara Andreson.
As incredible as this technology sounds, it has generated criticism from some who think it is a total invasion of privacy. But as Andreson points out, the app requires voluntary acceptance and is not forced on anyone.
“The idea is not to invade privacy, which is a big issue right now,” Anderson said. “Your face wouldn’t be in any sort of database unless you opt into it.”
Would you opt in to Facedeals, or do you think it crosses the line? Let us know in a comment.
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