shop milking their customers for social media content
I'm really conflicted between naming and shaming this store, and not wanting to help them with more traffic for their rancid business model. For now, I have not redacted the social media handle in the picture.
In Cologne, Germany, there is a kiosk that has switched owners, and now greets you with the following poster at the door:
Picture by andi_808
It says:
Your appearance at @(socialmediahandle)
@(socialmediahandle) is a Social-Media-Kiosk.
That means we produce video material showing life during our opening times. By entering, you accept that your appearance at @(socialmediahandle) is recorded with video and audio, saved and used for @(socialmediahandle) material. That is the goal.By entering of the @(socialmediahandle) as a person of legal age, you participate in it and give us (Company name) the right to use the recorded material of you irrespective of time and location for the following uses:
Distribution and reproduction, making the recorded content publicly accessible, and broadcasting the recorded content as part of our social media channels and streaming services and on other corresponding platforms (in particular, but not exclusively, on the TikTok, Instagram and YouTube channels), and on TV, live, on demand and/or in edited form. Archiving — all by (company name) and/or by third parties.
This also applies to the promotion of our own products and services, as well as the promotion of products and services of third parties using the recordings made.
There is no entitlement to the exploitation or publication of the material produced.Read? Agreed? Then buzzer now!
By pressing the button, you agree that you agree to the above conditions. By letting you into the kiosk, we accept your agreement.
Next to the door seems to be a green little buzzer.
On their online presence, they clarify that there will be live events, surprises, vertical mini-series with "microdrama", aiming for "real moments with customers - unscripted, spontaneous, authentic and opinionated". They aim for producing reality TV content.
I am baffled that someone thought this was a great idea.
First off, this notice is not telling customers about their GDPR/BDSG rights, which you need to do when you film an area as a business. People need to know that they have rights, particularly right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, and more. It's not telling people how long the data is stored. There is no proper contact information on who to contact to enforce these rights as is mandated, which is another failure.
Second, this notice and the modalities of how you are being informed are lacking for people with visual impairments, children (especially because they do mention they only want adults, but children entering will most likely still be recorded, even if it won't be used, and children have special protections under the GDPR), and people who otherwise cannot consent. As this is not just for security purposes, like a normal CCTV surveillance system used in almost any store, but instead is supposed to be (manipulated) content for potentially millions to see, I see a heightened need to inform people via other means, even verbally inside the store. I'd also be curious to know whether AI will be used or not, and whether people agree to also give their likeness for that, or to be associated with product ads this way.
Third, lets think about the customer base for kiosks. There will be children buying candy, chips and sugary drinks, of course, and many people just buying magazines, cigarettes and the like in a mundane way; but many, many times, these shops are also the main hub for homeless people, people suffering from alcoholism, and more. Poor people who are seen as Asoziale, based on fulfilling stereotypes like being from a migrant family, dressing in sweats, talking a certain way, chain-smoking, being seen as unintelligent, violent, with no ambition. It's always been fair game to many people here to make fun of people they deem inferior like this.
So what is the entertainment value supposed to be here? You wanna make fun of Renate and that she buys 5 packs a day? You wanna milk a homeless guy's heartbreaking story for clout? You wanna show how the local alcoholic deteriorates within months? It's extremely clear that they are searching for content that as a German, you'd otherwise see on RTL2 reality TV formats, or the BILD newspaper.
The fact that the company markets this under the guise of "funny feminism" and that it's for the "Girls, Gays, and Theys" is disgusting. You wanna expose these groups to absolutely disgusting comment sections and turn them into a spectacle to be gawked at? Women to be slutshamed, gay men to be called slurs, trans and nonbinary people ridiculed? I don't know what to say. You aren't woke, you aren't funny, you aren't cool, you aren't an ally.
The main motive is to exploit vulnerable people, cut together compromising and dramatic stuff, expose and embarrass people and earn money doing it. People just wanna shop at the closest kiosk, yet now have to go elsewhere because otherwise, they might get a shitstorm in a comment section they can't control, because they were coaxed into some kinda reaction of wore the wrong clothes or bought something deemed odd or bad. Even if the video with them in it does well and is nice, what's the payoff? You are the product, with no compensation! You pay them money for a product and then they try and make even more money off of you!
Social media has rotted the kiosk owner's brain and made them see other people as mere opportunities to go viral, no matter what that could possibly mean for them. I hope no one ever enters that store again, and I hope more people alert the LDI NRW to the absolute carelessness of people's privacy rights. This business model should not survive.
I don't care that people can just opt not to go in if it bothers them. I think this is a threat not every customer can correctly interpret and decide on, it is predatory, and I don't want this to become a trend and my shopping experience to turn into someone's entertainment and money source.
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