Old Town, Maine uses new AI to track residents for local business enhancement

Old Town, Maine, will begin using artificial intelligence to track residents and visitors later this year through a smartphone data collection program called Placer.ai. The initiative aims to gather demographic and behavioral insights to enhance local marketing efforts and attract new businesses to the downtown area.

How it works: Placer.ai collects data from smartphones in specific geographic areas, building comprehensive profiles of user behavior and demographics.

• The system tracks where people were before entering an area, how long they spend there, where they go afterward, and personal information like annual income.
• AI aggregates the data, recognizes patterns, and creates mapping visualizations while maintaining user anonymity.
• The company states it does not collect, share, or sell personal information and excludes data from anyone under 18.

Why this matters: The data will enable Old Town to create more targeted marketing campaigns and provide valuable insights to potential businesses considering the area.

• Current local businesses will also gain access to the data to inform their own marketing decisions.
• The information is commonly used to secure grants and demonstrate demand for specific types of businesses in communities.

Who else is involved: Old Town is part of a broader regional initiative that makes the technology more affordable for smaller communities.

• Multiple Greater Bangor area communities will participate through funding from the Greater Bangor Recreation Economy for Rural Communities group, part of Eastern Maine Development Corporation.
• Cities ranging from major metropolitan areas like Denver and Philadelphia to communities with fewer than 10,000 residents already use Placer.ai.

Privacy considerations: While the data collection is anonymous and not available in real time, residents and visitors can opt out of participation.

• People can limit location access on their phones and restrict apps from using their location data to avoid being tracked.
• E.J. Roach, Old Town’s director of economic and community development, described it as “another tool in our toolbox to track the data and see what we’re doing.”

The big picture: Old Town’s adoption of AI-powered location tracking reflects a growing trend of municipalities using smartphone data analytics to understand foot traffic patterns and inform economic development strategies, though the exact cost of participation was not disclosed.