New "Wi-Fi Aware" Tech To Connect Nearby Devices
I haven't heard much about this, but being a rather private person by nature, I don't care for the direction this is heading. Opt in/Opt out is a requirement of course, so there's that.
Source: Top Tech News
We reached out to Rich Karpinski, Principal Analyst at 451 Research, to learn more about Wi-Fi Aware's potential applications.
"The types of apps would include proximity marketing type apps, where a retailer or brand, for instance, can learn a customer Relevant Products/Services's location in the real-world and send along timely (and opted-in) content like coupons or ads," Karpinski told us. "Or more on the content side, consider a sports team sending out stats, videos or concession stand coupons to fans at a game."
As far as privacy is concerned, "opt-in/opt-out will be a requirement, as it is for most apps," Karpinski said. "Security is a different issue. Public Wi-Fi access points tend to be extremely insecure."
He noted that the Wi-Fi Alliance is also working on another initiative called Passpoint that "aims to make access point discovery easier while also adding encryption, which addresses the concerns about security Relevant Products/Services and hacking."
"The types of apps would include proximity marketing type apps, where a retailer or brand, for instance, can learn a customer Relevant Products/Services's location in the real-world and send along timely (and opted-in) content like coupons or ads," Karpinski told us. "Or more on the content side, consider a sports team sending out stats, videos or concession stand coupons to fans at a game."
As far as privacy is concerned, "opt-in/opt-out will be a requirement, as it is for most apps," Karpinski said. "Security is a different issue. Public Wi-Fi access points tend to be extremely insecure."
He noted that the Wi-Fi Alliance is also working on another initiative called Passpoint that "aims to make access point discovery easier while also adding encryption, which addresses the concerns about security Relevant Products/Services and hacking."