What about wi-fi hotspots?
Does this mean that all those hot-spots around the UK which are using the other ad targeting technology to profile their users' surfing habits have been operating outside the law?
Suddenly I am very happy not to be an hotel, coffee shop, cafe, borough council, train station .... nor any of the other hotspot outlets in London - how many over the whole of the UK? Is there a difference between the encrypted and unencrypted hotspot suppliers?
I don't know enough about the hotspot market.
http://www.jiwire.com/partners/index.htm makes interesting reading - which of those service providers and alliance & technology partners are responsible for the harvesting of data so that the service can be funded from the targeted advertising revenue generated by the users.
A quick look:
FrontPorch partner with free-hotspot.com - locations throughout UK - and Jiwire
Ultramercial is tied in with Jiwire and HSBC Premier, and "Ultramercial is proud to have been selected by Virgin Mobile USA as their partner for SUGAR MAMA. Your brand will benefit from the years of experience we bring to this full-screen interactive advertising opportunity with Virgin Mobile’s 14-24 year old users." http://www.ultramercial.com/homebase.html
Two words spring to mind: cat & pigeons