UK campaigners condemn ‘creepy’ digital billboards that can track viewers’ responses | Privacy

Digital billboards, which can film viewers’ reactions to adverts, have been installed in hundreds of apartment blocks in a move civil liberties campaigners described as “very alarming”.

Supplier 30Seconds Group says cameras enable monitoring “resident participation” from residents who are “captive audience” While waiting for the elevators to their apartments.

Potential advertisers are told: “With an average dwell time of 30 seconds, our displays provide ample time for viewers to absorb your message. This extended interactivity allows for deeper engagement, making it an ideal platform to deliver effective and memorable advertising content.”

30Seconds Group said it is on track to install fully-camera electronic notice boards in common areas of 1,000 buildings by the end of the year.

Housing Management Group, one of about 50 real estate companies that signed up, said the notice boards improved communication with residents.

In a statement to the Guardian, the group confirmed that it had placed billboards in 126 settlements with 50,000 people. However, he insisted that the cameras in his buildings were not active.

Conor Nocher, 32, complained that part of his £209 monthly service charge for his studio flat in Colindale, north-west London, was used to pay for a device that showed him unwanted adverts.

He said: “Allowing crypto companies, alcohol and gambling to advertise on residential properties seems ridiculous and truly inappropriate. There is no opting out of this option. You are forced to.”

Nocher said he hasn’t seen ads for such products in his building, but billboards elsewhere show promotions for beverage companies, a lottery syndicate, non-fungible tokens, a competition site and cage fighting in images shared online.

He’s also wary of having cameras on billboards. “RMG says I’m not being spied on, but there are cameras on the devices, you can see them,” he said.

“Even if it was zero cost to the residents, I would still fight this tooth and nail, no one wants six feet of trash advertising in their building being peeped at.

“People living in other buildings are being tracked by device because the boss of 30Seconds Group says so.”

Jesse Liu, general manager of 30Seconds Group, explained the company’s business model to the participants. technology news site Business Cloud. He said: “Our greatest strength is that we know who our target audience is. All our displays are integrated with cameras so we can capture demographic data and also track occupant engagement.”

Liu said the devices have been installed in commercial and residential buildings in 20 cities across the UK and they hope to be up and running in 2,000 premises by the end of next year.

A spokesman for RMG’s parent company, Places for People, said residents were not being monitored as “none of the cameras were operational, the camera was pre-installed but not activated”.

Emails from RMG to Nocher about the screens confirmed that the £800 installation costs and running costs were covered by residents’ service charges. The spokesman said annual running costs were £2.60 per head.

They added: “Their main purpose is to act as digital bulletin boards, delivering real-time updates in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible way.

“The overwhelming majority of feedback was positive, with London Fire Brigade praising the displays as a useful tool for delivering information to customers quickly and effectively.

“We take all customer feedback as recommendations, but feel the screens are installed in a way that allows them to be non-invasive.”

“I talked to my neighbors about it and couldn’t find anyone who thought any of this was a good idea,” Nocher said.

In an email to RMG, Nocher asked if residents had been consulted about digital bulletin boards. In response, a deputy executive from the company said: “Residents have not been formally consulted and we do not need to do so in this case.”

A Places for People spokesman said only building owners were consulted.

It was revealed last year that RMG was forced to remove two digital billboards, supplied by 30Seconds Group, from Grade II* listed Park Hill flats in Sheffield following objections from residents.

One of the participants in the discussion, who wished to remain anonymous, said residents objected because the screens were visually “incompatible” with the design of the flats, the live news screens were “boring” and they did not want “adverts shown as they walked through their doors”. They added: “People were also concerned about the cameras, although we were told they had not been activated.”

Jake Hurfurt, of civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said digital noticeboards were “very scary”.

He added: “Billboards equipped with demographic scanning technology have no place in people’s homes. They are the height of surveillance capitalism.”

“We should all be able to move around the buildings we live in without being scanned against our will to check our personal features or when we pay attention to an ad, and it’s even more frustrating that some building occupants have to pay to be tracked.”

The 30Seconds Group has been approached for comment.