Online deals company Foursquare is looking to bring in revenue by selling its merchants software that will enable them to track--and therefore better target specials to--their customers who use the service. Traditionally, social media companies have turned to advertisers to monetize "free" services, and Foursquare's method may end up putting them in the center of the privacy debate, according to Erik Sherman, writing for BNET. "The minute you start analysis on people at specific stores, particularly smaller stores with repeat customers, consumer anonymity begins to fade," Sherman writes. "Set the right specials, and a store owner could begin matching faces, names (especially from credit card purchases) and online identities."
Full Story