This week, I read a lot about how companies track an individual's activity online. This includes sites that you go to, what links you click on, what advertisement's you click on while on another site, and your different interests. I honestly believe that this is a very GOOD advertising strategy for companies because it allows them to target their specific target audience and to advertise what that individual's "likes" are. I am not really sure if I believe it is an invasion of privacy because you aren't actually displaying your personal information to a website. However, you are hinting what your interests are, but you must also think about how broad or how big the range of interests could be for clicking on a particular advertisement.
Let me explain my reasoning and thoughts about the range of interests when clicking on an advertisement. Personally, I had this happen to me after clicking on a specific advertisement and entering in certain products in the search engine on a website. I work at General Nutrition Center (GNC.) Sometimes, I need to go to our main website to check out certain products such as prices, promotions, or supplement facts. Whenever I go to www.gnc.com, I type in certain products that I am interested in or looking for the price of a certain product. Then, whenever I go to a site that GNC has advertising for, it shows up those EXACT products that I have searched for before on their website. It allows me to go through the different products on the advertisement to look at the prices and possible sales for those products that I have showed interest in before. I think this is a good, solid advertisement because it allows a consumer to gain information on a product before actually entering the main website. It shows that the company isn't exactly just forcing you to enter their site and it allows a consumer to somewhat "open up" to a company.
I actually do believe this information is fair game. This relates back to my first blog post on whatever you put on or enter in the internet, it is up to YOURSELF to not display this information on the internet. A great example of this came in Week three's reading regarding "Facebook Friend turns into Big Brother." KJ Lang talks about how it is up to you to display information about yourself especially regarding illegal actions such as under-age drinking. Adam Bauer accepted a random person's friend request on Facebook, which led to him being called into the police station and being ticketed for under-age drinking. I thought the response of Bauer was really interesting when Bauer said, "I just can't believe it. I feel like I'm in a science fiction movie, like they are always watching. When does it end?" Personally Adam, I don't think it will ever end. When I first read the book 1984 by George Orwell, I was shocked and amused at the same time. I never really thought this of our government, but then it made me think about different situations in my life where it felt like I was being watched. I do really believe that the government is always watching some way or another. Whether it is by the internet, cameras, or by personal identities. However, I think if they are watching, it mostly happens on the internet due to the excessive advancements in technology. Lang also writes in the article that, "Social networking sites are among many new tools law enforcement has adopted to find underage drinkers." I know this is true because it seems like way too many people under the age of 21 are displaying information including photos that they drink alcohol illegally.
After I read the article from the Wall Street Journal written by Julia Angwin regarding how personal information is tracked, it was no surprise to me that it comes from a tiny file hidden inside the computer software. Just this little file reveals all personal and somewhat "private" information about the owner of the computer that could include one person, or even a whole family. Lotame Solutions Inc is a New York company that uses sophisticated software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website. This allows a company to see people's interests and this also has to do with what I wrote earlier regarding company advertisements. "We can segment it all the way down to one person," says Eric Porres, Lotame's chief marketing officer. This reminds me of how companies track down a person's information through the internet on whether or not to hire them or not. Companies try to find out personal information on a person such as their daily habits, which might include binge drinking or using drugs. I really do believe that if somebody REALLY wants to find out information about a certain person, that they can with great research and determination.
After all the reading for this week's blog post, it gave me a better understanding of how our personal information is displayed through online sites such as www.whitepages.com and www.spokeo.com. I believe that I will continue to learn A LOT more about issues in cyberspace including "how" and "why" our information is being exposed to outsiders on the internet.
I would agree there is a good way for ad companies because they are using their money better and more effective. They are hitting their target audience without wasting time that television sometimes can do.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Eric. I definitely agree.
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