In May 2013, retailer Nordstrom said that yes, it was sniffing customers’ WiFi to track their movement through 17 US stores.

Nordstrom was collecting anonymised, aggregate information, a spokeswoman said at the time, and wasn’t identifying personal information tied to a phone’s owner.

Therefore, Nordstrom said, it wasn’t using the WiFi data to market specific products at specific individuals.

Tracking customers and not using the data to target marketing and advertising might sound innocuous, but there are those who question the privacy ramifications as the technology begins to proliferate.

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