Musings of a guy who used to play football…without a helmet

I was reading a discussion on a museum blog on the topic of using a motion tracking system to determine the movement of visitors and measure the time/interest they were spending at each exhibit. I was a bit surprised that the discussion took a turn in the direction of “confidentially of movement”. I was intrigued that this would be a concern since museums historically employ guards to monitor traffic flow. It seemed to me a natural and logical progression from merely observing visitors to compiling information and using it to improve content, seemed like a good idea to me. What ensued was a pretty spirited discussion about individual vs. organizational rights, and freedom of movement vs. monitoring movement. Before long, incendiary phrases like” Big Brother" were being thrown around. So I guess the question is to what degree do we as curators, marketers and designers have the right to use all of the information at our disposal to improve the visitors, or in the case of commercial exhibitions, the prospect's experience? Maybe I have just gotten to the point where I accept being on camera most of the day, certainly in my car and probably when I am walking down the street. On the upside, I am pretty sure I have privacy at home except of course when I am watching TV via cable.
---Richard http://www.linkedin.com/pub/richard-boothroyd/2/3bb/635