Is Your Furniture Spying on You?: Covert Use of GPS in Advertising

Authors

Brandy Worden

Abstract

Advancements in technology have been paired with advertising. The result is personalized, but at times intrusive, advertising tactics. The Note uses an advertising campaign titled "The Real Good Experiment" ("the Experiment") as a case study to examine how advertising invades our personal spheres, and also how the legal framework should be fortified to protect consumer privacy.

The subjects of the Experiment brought furniture that had been seemingly abandoned into their homes only to later discover that the furniture had GPS devices hidden within them. The Note considers various categories of legal protection available when advertising invades consumer privacy. The Note addresses the potential strengths and weaknesses of trespass and privacy tort claims that consumers might have resulting from the Experiment. In closing, the Note recommends that legislators modernize the legal framework to ensure that consumer privacy is protected in light of technological advancements.

Recommended Citation

Brandy Worden, Is Your Furniture Spying on You?: Covert Use of GPS in Advertising, 33 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 461 (2011).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol33/iss3/6