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Council reviews Placer AI geo‑fencing demo and considers a one‑year trial
Summary
Staff demonstrated Placer AI visitor‑tracking software and recommended a one‑year trial (cost stated as $8,000); council members raised privacy and data-sufficiency questions and asked staff to gather further details before proceeding.
City staff presented a Placer AI demonstration showing geo‑fenced visitor counts for signature events and a local trailhead, and recommended a one‑year trial of the service to inform marketing and event planning.
The presenter said the software can show the number of cellular devices in a defined geo‑fence during a time window and trace prior and subsequent stops at a coarse, aggregated level. The record lists example event counts (north of 400 visitors on one demo date, dropping to about 100 the next day) and describes mapping of visitor origins by ZIP code. Staff noted the one‑year cost as $8,000 and that the county had previously used the product amid controversy about privacy; the presenter asserted the tool does not identify individual users when datasets fall below thresholds.
Council members questioned the minimum time a device must be present to be counted, whether small venues would generate enough data for meaningful analysis, and what time-window settings are available; several expressed interest in trying the service if staff can document privacy safeguards and reporting parameters. The council asked staff to collect additional technical and privacy details before authorizing a purchase.
