When speaking of the lack of privacy on the internet, some people sound like it is 1984 and they are living Orwell’s nightmare with a twist; it is no longer a cruel totalitarian government that monitors your behavior to impose its oppressive policies, but the greedy capitalist companies that invade your privacy in order to sell you their products.
Is this so bad? After all, they just want to identify your preferences so that you are exposed to more effective targeted advertisements (a.k.a. ads that you may be interested in). It would seem like a win-win scenario where golfers receive promotions of the weekly green-fee discounts and skydivers are prompted about the latest extreme sports destination.
Nevertheless, what if I don’t want to be tracked anymore? Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission issued some recommendations to policymakers in order to protect those who would rather keep advertisers away from tracking their online activity. The way I see it, if people don’t want to be monitored anymore is because advertisers are not being effective enough in displaying the ads that the web surfer is really interested in.
Therefore, it would seem like FTC’s suggestion of creating Do-Not-Track mechanisms is actually giving companies a hand, after all the government agency is relieving marketers from the burden of asking each and every Internaut about his or her preferences as a consumer, hence enabling more efficient targeted online marketing. I guess we all (consumers and marketers) have to thank the FTC this time!
Definitely, the U.S. FTC’s initiatives to promote web surfers education and business consciousness to avoid disclosure of private information is a rational idea. However the U.S. government seems to be reacting more than forecasting possible issue within web policies. Should we thank the FTC for this proposal? Or should we complain to the government for allowing the continuing gap growth between business and government technology expertise? This is how our current system works: technology developers launch their initiatives as services or products, consumers jump into the excitement of what is new and then when honey moon ends, all problems surface to reality.
ResponderEliminarI believe your comment brings a good point to the table. Certainly, if I’m receiving the advertising of products/services that I’m interested in, why would I use the “do not track button”? However, the FTC’s recommendation does not necessarily represent a helping feature to companies out there merely because it will prevent them to address consumers that are not supposed to be interested in their products. Remember that marketers open their way into consumers based on perceived needs. These perceived needs are driven by people’s real needs or desires or by what advertising methods make them believe they need. Unless the benefits of efficient targeting offset the costs of shrinking the possible customer base, companies will not see the “do not track” button as a helpful hand from the FTC.
ResponderEliminarI understand your point where the privacy “invasion” can be beneficial. However, each user must have the right if he/she wants to share this information. I think that the “don’t track” button will be an efficient and final solution for this matter.
ResponderEliminarThe point you're making is definitely interesting but I don't believe the recommendation made by the FTC for a "Do-Not-Track" option is really feasible and most of all it doesn't solve the problem. I just have a hard time believing this could be implemented and mostly that it actually is going to work. Your information is still most likely going to be used and shared for marketing purposes.
ResponderEliminarAlthough online advertising maybe annoying, it pays for many of the sites that we love to access. The targeting advertising keeps sites such as Hulu up and running. Without the used of this medium the cost maybe passed on the the consumers of the service fees. The protection of sensitive information is essential, but small items such as buying habits may be used to help the burgeoning online advertising industry and provide a large boost to the economy.
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