3 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2022
    1. I got sober about four years ago, but the internet knows me as an alcoholic and there is in those many records out there, the fact that I have clicked on alcohol ads. I have bought alcohol online. The internet in a very real way doesn't want me to stop drinking. The fact that they know that I like to drink is actually very lucrative for them. When you think about this, this creates a really interesting ethical conundrum. It's not just that these things are creepy. It's that they're literally holding us to our worst selves, even when we try to change and work our way through the future.

      Effects of Behavioral Advertising when the Behavior Changes

      It is said that the internet doesn't forget. This could be really true for behavioral advertisers who's business it is to sell to your behaviors, whether you've wanted to change them or not.

  2. Dec 2021
    1. The goal of data brokers is to allow consumers to decide which information may be shared with advertisers, then share in some of the revenue generated by its use. These services ask users to sign up on the Web or via an application, connect their social media and Web accounts, then ask them to answer specific questions about their interests. Based on the data provided and collected initially and over time, the brokers will place users into segments, and advertisers can purchase access to data from one or more segments for use in personalized advertising. Each time their data is shared, or advertisers purchase access to a segment in which the user's data has been placed, the user can earn points, rewards, or cash. All the data brokers note that they store their user data on the cloud using a variety of encryption and security protocols, and that the end users with whom they work can opt out of having specific data shared if they so choose.

      The thought being: if a private file is going to be created about me, at least I should be able to cash in on that. How can we know if we are getting a good “price” for selling our behavior data and interests? Is there a divide between those that can afford not to be tracked versus those that need to be tracked as a source of income?

    2. data on demographics that are in limited supply (such as data on Middle Eastern male consumers) is more valuable than demographic data on white millennial women. Similarly, the browsing data of individuals seeking to purchase a Tesla or Ferrari automobile within the next month would be valued more highly by data brokers and advertisers than the data of someone browsing for the best deals on a used Chrysler minivan.

      Demographic data gathered from behavioral advertising systems is not equally valuable. Value can vary by the attributes of the person and by attributes of what that person was doing.