NYC Phone Booth Beacons Removed

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Just hours after BuzzFeed broke the story revealing beacons in hundreds of phone booths across Manhattan, City Hall requested that Titan remove their devices, according to BuzzFeed.

Outdoor media company Titan controls advertising space on more than 5,000 media panels on phone booths across New York City’s five boroughs. They reportedly installed 500 beacons in 2013, according to BuzzFeed.  These advertising beacons have the ability to recognize smartphones in the area and are often used by retailers and marketers to push advertisements to users. 

The issue at stake here is that the beacons were installed without the knowledge of the citizens of New York, resulting in concerns over potential access of information without consent.

BuzzFeed reportedly uncovered the Titan beacons using an Android App called iBeacon Detector, which shows information about beacons operating within reach of the device on which the app is installed. There were more than 13 such beacons “on a 20-block stretch along Broadway and Sixth Avenue” alone in Manhattan. 

Apparently, according to a spokesman for New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Communication (DoITT), Titan installed approximately 500 devices in 2013 “for maintenance purposes only,” and that the department allowed the installation without requiring the formal review process. 

Mere hours after the initial reports broke in the media, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city had ordered Titan to remove the devices. 

According to the New York Daily News, privacy advocates are cautioning that the use of such technology could transform the Big Apple into a” giant data-mining matrix, and deepen the already vast network of surveillance tools used by law enforcement agencies.”

Dave Etherington of Titan told the New York Daily News that the devices have been used for more than just routine maintenance updates.  “We are testing a number of use cases, one of which is inventory management.” He added, “We wanted to see if beacons worked in the first place.”

Although the company assured that the beacons are not currently being used to trigger advertising, they stated that “there are potential advertising-use cases, for sure.”

BuzzFeed reports, Phil Walzak from the Mayor’s office explained that the city’s relationship with Titan is part of a city-wide program to turn obsolete pay phone kiosks into contemporary communications hubs.

“Titan has been an important city partner in helping expand communications options for New Yorkers, from piloting free public Wi-Fi to providing free calling on all its pay phones across the five boroughs for three weeks after Hurricane Sandy,” he said.