Is Dat-a bad?
( For 2 )
According to the British Institute of Study ( a chartered institute of information technology, data mining is being used by both advertisers as well as criminals to target innocent individuals.
According to a survey conducted by HubSpot, an online ad-blocking tool, 64% of people agree with the statement that “ Ads are Intrusive/Annoying “ where as 39% are worries about their privacy and security.
BCS again emphasizes on how online marketing can be aggressive and unwanted, they agree that in some cases targeted ads can be helpful as it helps narrow prefrences and save the end user’s time, but at what cost is the question?
To achieve an effective form of targeting, that is — to provide consumers with information about products that they might consider buying for reasons such as :
- They are actively looking for a particular product, or something that offers a similar function.
- They have been thinking about it ( browsing for a product or service for an extended period of time )
- They have been discussing it with colleagues, peers and or family. ( Our gadgets are listening to us most of the time, if not all. )
A massive amount of data is required to be analyzed for a successful recommendation. Some of this data can be extremely personal — such as age, location, religious beliefs, credit card history ( yes! there are online as well as physical trackers for that too ), political leaning and so much more. Most people consider this a gross invasion of privacy, but not much can be done about it, as there are little to no regulations pertaining to online privacy.
Jhon Perry Barlow, a political activist and the founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundations once said that “ Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window binds “.
