Q. I think it is great that the city is providing public restrooms, but when I loaded the app on my phone I wondered why it required personal information and phone location.
A. The phone number is used for accountability. “We anonymize it in the system and it becomes a unique user ID,” emails a representative from Throne, the company that has installed eight of these restrooms around town. If “a unique user ID is repeatedly associated with misuse (i.e. someone staying longer than the 10 min limit, smoking in the Throne) we can actually restrict that account’s access. …
“Location information must be enabled on the app because you must be within 100 feet of a Throne to open it. This prevents someone from sitting at home and randomly opening Thrones around the country. … We are not using your location data in any other way.”
Alternatively, one can go to a Throne, scan the QR code on the side of it, or text the number on the side, and pop right in. This still provides Throne with your phone number but eliminates the location service.
For those without cell phones, entry cards can be picked up at City Hall and at the Delonis Center.
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