#LDS14 As New Sensors Emerge, Risks and Rewards in Location Data

The bulk of location data may come from smartphone’s today, but a new wave of sensors could open up a range of possibilities for developers and businesses to interact with consumers a given place.

During a panel at Street Fight’s Local Data Sumit in Denver Tuesday, Marc Prioleau, the managing director of Prioleau Advisors, joined,  Bob Kressin, the CEO of KS Technologies as well as a Intel’s Greg Turetzky and Qualcomm’s Aidoo Osei discussed the way chip-level innovations are driving the local tech space, and how new sensors could open up a flood of consumer location data.

Apple’s decision to introduce a GPS chip into the iPhone in 2007 effectively opened the local tech market, providing a clear way for brands and developers to reach millions of consumers locally. But today, there’s still a host of issues facing developers and brands — namely, the struggle to streamline location data across a growing variety of platforms including the two largest smartphone platforms — Android and iOS — as well as data from WiFi networks, video cameras, and a growing set of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons.

“Location data used to be reactive, and now it’s ambient,” said Prioleau, referring to a previous LDS presentation by Esri’s Amber Case. “Meaning that it’s tracking you around and pushing something to you when it’s relevant.”

The shift to ambient location both opens the door for developers and brings with it a number of new privacy related issues. The panelists agreed that developers and brands need to be vigilant in communicating with an increasingly connected consumers about these programs.

Both Qualcoomm’s Osei and Intel’s Turetzky say their respective companies are allocating time and resources toward build a privacy infrastructure for those apps.

“Users are becoming increasingly sophisticated about their most personal device and increasingly aware of the privacy implications of being tracked,” Osei said, “They’re becoming more savvy.”