Questioning Privacy
There are almost always ads for sites I have recently visited or was just visiting or products/services that I frequently look at. For example, I usually spent a good chunk of time on the internet looking at shoes and fashion. StockX, a website for buying and selling these goods, I use often whether it be to just look at the product or actually purchase it. Regardless, almost every time I get an ad on the next site I go to for StockX, and sometimes even the specific products I was just looking at. I also find them a ton on social media applications like Twitter and Instagram. They can be annoying after a while but once you understand the economics of running a social media platform, it makes total sense why we see them so often. We will future discuss targeted ads and how they find their way towards you.
Targeted Advertising has created many opportunities for advertisers. Advertisers are able to target individuals based on what they search on the internet, or information they have posted about themselves on the internet. When going on a website, for example, that website company will create a file on your computer called a “cookie” which will then scan what you search on your device later, and present ads based on the things you have looked up or bought (Weise). Unlike mass advertising techniques, such as billboards, the Internet is able to personalize content. Having more information about data subjects’ interests, companies can increase the relevance of advertisements, targeting the particular interests of the person to whom an advertisement is shown. (Cofone). This is good for the advertisers because they are able to closely examine what you are interested in or looking for, so there is such a larger percentage that you will buy whatever the ad is. Another aspect of targeted advertising is that if they know certain biographical information about you, they can send certain ads to your devices or social media you have. This gives advertisers multiple opportunities to get you to buy something. If they know that for example, you are a college student who likes to go wakeboarding in the summer and ice-fishing in the winter and has an addiction to shoes, they will send you advertisements about all of those hobbies across your social media accounts, safari searches, etc. Targeted advertisements have made it so much easier for advertisers to target individuals and increase their percentages on selling a product.
As targeted advertisements have presented a lot of opportunities for advertisers, it has brought up many problems for consumers on the subject of their privacy. Many people when going onto a new website, just click “accept” when the pop-up shows if the website can create a “cookie” on your device, not reading what it actually entails. I bring this up because many people do not understand the extent these websites, companies, and advertisers have gone to get information about individuals and how quickly they can get information about you and send you advertisements that you would like, and practically predict and present your next purchase or life choice. This brings up a lot of privacy issues and can have large effects on individuals and they don’t even know it. Another aspect to think about is how you can have a private browsing mode on your searches, but this will not prevent advertisers to target you with certain ads, as well as they can get your information in many different ways on social media and your search history. A few months ago I watched the documentary The Great Hack on Netflix that has a lot of good information on targeted advertisements and talks about the 2016 election advertisements and Facebook’s involvement. I believe that it is so important to be educated on who and how advertisers are getting your information and the things they could do with your personal information. It is important to try to get as much information on social media platforms on how much information they are getting from you having an account on their platform because I do not think they disclose it for the users to know right away, and I do not think it is going to present to the public on the news or government for a long time, if ever.
I notice targeted ads on my social media accounts and my safari searches when I am researching something on google. I went to Afton Alps to go skiing not that long ago and saw ads for ski helmets and ski accessories not long after my trip there. I have noticed this same trend after I buy something online whether that be Amazon or another online website. The most targeted ads I get are on my Instagram account and I generally do not click on any of the ads I see on Instagram, because I have found that once I click on them, I just end up seeing more ads and they somehow find more information on the things I am about to buy, or that I am looking for. I generally see ads on Instagram for clothing and jewelry, which correlates to the clothes or jewelry that I search on google. I very rarely click on an ad on Instagram, and I never click on an ad that I see on google or any website I visit. I do not click on an advertisement that I see on the internet mainly because I am afraid that it will redirect me to another website that will put a virus on my computer or device, also because I do not like being dragged into the concept of targeted advertising and end up buying something off an advertisement that I see online. I like to think about what I am buying before I buy it and search what brands are the best or if I am getting my money’s worth. I have also experienced seeing ads of things that I have thought about buying, but seeing an advertisement for it before I have even searched it up. I believe this comes from advertisers being able to predict my next purchase, or even where I am going next for a trip. When I really stop and think about all the advertisements I have seen and how it is personalized to me, it is scary to think about.
When you see an ad, it has seen you. If you’re uncomfortable with this idea of being tracked, you can always limit your cookies. I believe even you incognito searchers are being tracked. As consumers, we need to do a better job at being aware of how advertisers reach our information and how we can be more careful about it. As a consumer, I can’t think of much else we could do because businesses want money and targeted ads are how they get it. Technology is growing every day which puts our question of privacy at a higher risk. The concern of privacy is seen every day, from Facebook to certain apps on your phone.
CITATIONS
Ignacio N. Cofone, The way the cookie crumbles: online tracking meets behavioural economics, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Volume 25, Issue 1, Spring 2017, Pages 38–62, https://doi-org.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/10.1093/ijlit/eaw013
Elizabeth Weise. “Stopping Cookies from Nibbling Away Privacy Clean up Your Tracks.” National Post (Toronto), 2000, pp. National post (Toronto), 2000–10–03.
Stewart, E. (2019, December 10). Why every website wants you to accept its cookies. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/10/18656519/what-are-cookies-website-tracking-gdpr-privacy
