TINY CAMERAS!?! We found out what those customer satisfaction buttons actually do
NO SUCH THING
iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope
4.6 • 609 Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we’re answering a question from a listener named Emma: What do those smiley-face customer-satisfaction buttons you see in airport bathrooms actually do?
We track down the Finland-based company behind them, HappyOrNot, and uncover a hidden world of analytics, cameras, and AI.
Our guest this week is Scott Erickson, HappyOrNot’s VP of US Sales and Global Channels.
For links to research and more, check out our newsletter.
Like this episode? Check out Is your phone listening to you ... and should you care?
DEV-ITORS NOTE: After the interview, HappyOrNot clarified that cameras are standard on their touchscreen devices, but the button devices don’t have them.
ICYMI: Manny wrote a book and you can check it out here! It's called Colored People Time: A Case for (Casual) Rebellion, and it's a collection of essays about the ways that time wraps itself around our most personal moments.
Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (860) 325-0286
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Annie. I'm Nguyen. |
| 0:12.4 | This is Devon, and this is no such thing, the show where we settle our dumb arguments and yours by actually doing the research. |
| 0:20.2 | On today's episode, are you happy or not? |
| 0:24.6 | A deep dive into those bathroom reaction buttons. |
| 0:32.0 | There's no such thing. No such thing. No such thing. No such thing. No such thing. |
| 0:39.8 | No such thing. |
| 0:40.7 | No such thing. |
| 0:42.9 | No such thing. |
| 0:48.7 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:50.9 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:53.0 | No gloss, no filter |
| 0:55.5 | Just stories |
| 0:57.4 | Spoken without fear |
| 0:59.3 | Person who is not generous |
| 1:01.2 | Can not be an artist |
| 1:02.1 | The world will be at peace |
| 1:03.8 | Only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers |
| 1:06.6 | Listen to my weekly podcast |
| 1:08.8 | The Pujabh show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:16.0 | Come for the honesty. |
| 1:17.9 | Stay for the fire. |
| 1:22.3 | All right. |
... |
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