Recently I've been reading about the leakage of information on the internet. I've always been curious about directed ads, which seem to always be related to what I'd been recently browsing whether it be video games or shoes. Unfortunately, these ads aren't the result of voodoo magic but instead information collection and redistribution. A study at Worchester Polytechnic Institute showed that many popular sites release information, some intentionally and others through collaboration with advertisers. Third parties monitor these sites, collecting data such as searches, browser information, and email addresses in order to shape their marketing plans.
I personally don't approve of this. I don't feel that it's right that without my consent my data could be collected and given to third parties who are trying to sell me something. I compare this to the Video Game industry. In most beta tests, the company developing the game explicitly asks to collect information from your computer in order to help them with the development of the game (optimizing and other things to ensure that it runs smoothly). I find this very agreeable, as part of my duty as a beta tester is to help find bugs and guide the development process. However, when I peruse through a site I don't expect them to be following me and telling someone else that I'm interested in a pair of Nike sneakers. The odds are, I'll find what I want before the advertisements can take effect on my next visit to Facebook or Youtube. Overall I find these to be a mild invasion of my privacy and more of a nuisance than anything else, hopefully websites begin to monitor my data as well as other users' information more closely.
Hey Trevor!
ReplyDeleteLike you I don't feel very comfortable about how a lot of social networking and online businesses cut corners when it comes to protecting private information - all in the name of targeted advertisements, aka. profits.
Some cause for optimism though - legislators are making some headway in devising new laws and measures to closely monitor whether online businesses are infringing privacy rights of consumers. Accusing Facebook of engaging in “unfair and deceptive” practices, the federal government on Tuesday announced a broad settlement that requires the company to respect the privacy wishes of its users and subjects it to regular privacy audits for the next 20 years. It's obviously not a very sharp and adequate instrument (e.g. a privacy audit every two years is probably inadequate given the speed by which these technologies adapt), but it's a good step towards more stringent privacy frameworks nonetheless.
Article available here, btw:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/technology/facebook-agrees-to-ftc-settlement-on-privacy.html
I can definitely relate to your discomfort with the fact that people and organizations online seem to be able to pull our information without our express knowledge. Even scarier than the targeted ads are sites that allow you to look up personal information about people. It's an odd phenomenon though, how protective we are of our information. Like you pointed out with the video game example, I think it's more the lack of our explicit consent that bothers us than the information itself.
ReplyDeleteThe legislation that Chi-Ling points out is really interesting since it addresses facebook, which probably has more information about most people than any other single website. It's difficult to understand just how much facebook knows about us, but it must know quite a bit to be as successful as a business as it is.