I Spy a Better Buy

Retailers are using surveillance cameras as a marketing tool. Some privacy advocates don't like the looks of it

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The Creamery, a café in the heart of San Francisco’s SoMa district, always has a long line at the counter on sunny weekends. Work-weary hipsters abandon their nearby condos and cubicles for breakfast on the patio—all under the watchful gaze of owner Ivor Bradley. A gregarious Irishman with a management background at Whole Foods and Four Seasons hotels, he knows all the regulars and likes to stay on top of the details of his business.

Even when he’s nowhere near the premises, he keeps an eye on customers and staff by way of his smartphone, watching streaming footage via the café’s security cameras.

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