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NEWS

Industry divided over Bluetooth marketing

by Justin Pearse, New Media Age (UK):

"...Lawyers, trade bodies and [advertising] agencies have expressed concerns over the status of Bluetooth marketing, with such communications in danger of flouting the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and being seen as spam by consumers. Under the regulations, explicit consumer consent is needed for marketing communications. However, Bluetooth marketing involves the broadcast of an initial unsolicited message to initiate the communication.

"'Do the brands running these campaigns have permission [to message people]? I'd suggest they don't,' said Robert Dirskovski, head of interactive media at the Direct Marketing Association. 'They well may be in breach of the privacy regulations.'

"Bluetooth phones have three states: off, open to communicate with devices they've been paired with, and fully discoverable. Marketers have been taking the third option to mean consumers are open to marketing, despite the fact they may merely wish to communicate with friends or don't understand Bluetooth fully.

"'There's an argument that if Bluetooth is turned on it's hard to say messages are being sent without permission,' said Will Betts, associate at law firm Silken Lewis. 'It's a grey area.'..."

[Bluetooth - posted 21 July 2005]