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Following an article in The New York Times about billboards with facial-recognition-based tracking systems that caused a stir in regards to privacy issues, TruMedia Technologies sent a letter to the paper explaining that the company would never record or store any video from the billboards.
The technology behind the billboards only analyzes the images its cameras take. No individually identifiable info is ever stored, according to the letter (via Engadget).
The camera-equipped billboards - inspired by Israeli surveillance - track viewers’ faces to gather reliable viewing data for digital displays and screens.
“We applaud The New York Times Reporter Stephanie Clifford on her recent article about the advancement in audience measurement in the out-of-home advertising industry. She rightly states, ‘In advertising these days, the brass ring goes to those who can measure everything,’” the letter reads.
It goes on, “Ms. Clifford is 100 percent correct. With the increased popularity of out-of-home advertising and the exponential growth of the digital signage industry (translating into billions of dollars), there has been no accurate measurement system in place. Television has Nielsen and radio has Arbitron, but the out-of-home industry has grown up quickly without an accurate and reliable third-party measurement solution. Our company, TruMedia Technologies, realized that need and has created a robust, scalable, turnkey audience measurement solution.”
The letter claims that the company is “working closely” with the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau to help develop a comprehensive set of standards that address both methodology and metrics for the out-of-home measurement industry, including the buying, planning and selling community. “Within those standards will come a quality control element that every vendor and advertising agency must agree to in order to use our products and services.”
Engadget includes the entire text of the letter.
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