The main concern about location based marketing is that many people are not aware they are being tracked as often as they are. This concern leads consumers to worry about their privacy, even though retailers are using it more for the benefit of their company and trying to reach their maximum target audience, not “spy” on their customers. Although the majority of retailers do use it for the right purposes, others may not be as ethical.
Trackers on our phones provide a huge amount of information to retailers and marketers in many different ways. These “pings” from our cell phones provide retailers and marketers information about where we shop, when we go there, how long we stay there, how frequent we go there and this helps them evaluate consumer habits and preferences to decide who their target audience is and how to best sell their product or service.
Although these insights can benefit the companies that do this, it also raises many concerns about personal privacy and the accuracy of the information they are receiving.
In a survey conducted by PunchTab, more than 50% of participants did not want to be tracked by retailers at all, with the main concern being “privacy.” Complete privacy is almost impossible to have in today’s day but the issue is mainly on “how far is too far?” Even though the majority of the participants were against it, 27% were open to being tracked under certain circumstances and incentives such as coupons or special offers.
On the issue of accuracy, which many of us are familiar with, the information retailers and marketers receive may not be completely true to what we like and want. Every time we get on Facebook or Instagram you are guaranteed to see at least one advertisement that is trying to relate to you. Some may be very relevant while others may be completely unrelated to you and based more on your location or your friends. For example, I have never purchased anything from Glossier but I always see advertisements about them because my friends use their products: 
Glossier is using location based marketing to try to find potential clients based on their current clients. It always concerns me how they know that my friends click or shop on their site and somehow find a way to advertise to me.
There are many ways to prevent these things from happening or customize permissions for data use through various apps and settings on your phone if you are not comfortable with retailers or marketers having this much information about you.
Location based marketing raises many ethical concerns in privacy but many companies use these things to improve their marketing and find ways to reach their maximum target consumer in the best way possible. These things can be scary to think about them knowing where you are, where you shop, and what your interests are but before you try to completely shut these services down, think about how it is the future to brand awareness, creating loyalty, and making your company more successful overall.
Emily's Blog 