Physical Audience Measuring Technologies and Privacy Concerns

Technologies capable of detecting, measuring or counting individuals are now a reality. While the prospects and market for the Audience Measuring (AM) business are growing rapidly, there are still many doubts about the impact on the privacy of EU citizens. Above all: where does the border of ‘detection’ end and where does the border of ‘recognition’ begin?The whitepaper discussed is the result of a research and analysis of the most troublesome privacy impacts that AM technologies may present. In particular, this work consists of: (i) a technical description of some AM technologies; (ii) a study and systematisation of the current decisions, measures and judgments (case law) on the matter by data protection authorities; (iii) an analysis of other relevant technical studies; (iv) the sharing of some (non binding) guidelines.The study was born from a component of Italian professionals willing to extend the dialogue on an European scale, since this is certainly the scope of the AM technologies market and – above all – this is the jurisdiction where common rules such as the EU Regulation n. 679/2016 (General Data Protection Regulation) operate.”