Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer has finally gotten around to asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to crack down on in-store mobile tracking. At a press conference on Sunday (July 28) in front of a Manhattan store, Schumer decried the Big Brother-like surveillance that retailers engage in, demanded that retailers send shoppers a message letting them opt out before they begin tracking, and called on the FTC to investigate.

If that sounds a bit familiar, it may be because Schumer was saying back in November 2011 that he was going to call the FTC because two shopping malls were tracking customers by way of their phones. It only took him 20 months to get around to it. And in light of the fact that the FTC has been warning retailers for almost a year not to engage in surreptitious tracking—and is getting increasingly aggressive in its efforts—Schumer seems like he’s a wee bit behind the curve. He also doesn’t seem to have thought through his proposed send-an-opt-out-message solution. But we’re sure he’ll get around to explaining all that—in another 20 months or so.