Have you ever logged into your email and noticed that the advertisements on the side of your screen match the words or subject lines within each email?
Every time an Internet user logs on and conducts a search, the websites they visit leave cookies, or bits of code that are left behind for businesses to track what is bought or browsed while they are online.
As the Internet becomes more prominent in the everyday lives of Americans, it seems as though marketers are one step ahead of the game.
This theory about the accuracy of cookies was tested by Jeffrey Rosen, a writer in a teen magazine by The New York Times called Upfront. In his article, Rosen creates two different profiles which he calls “Republican Jeff” and “Democratic Jeff” and searched sites that matched the average profiles. Republican Jeff looked up items such as diamond rings and Cadillacs while Democratic Jeff looked up Barack Obama’s website and Volvos. Within two days, Rosen noticed that the advertisements on each Web Browser were very different, but both represented the profiles of the different variations of himself.
Although the process of adding cookies to website links is legal, it is uncomfortable to know that every move we make online is being watched by a higher power. The process of tracking our moves on the Internet brings up the question of whether or not our privacy is being ignored once we go online.
According the Upfront article “Your Secret Online Profile,” Google and Facebook have both increased their use of real-time bidding, which is a technique that allows advertisers to send promotions to web users that have shown interest in that particular item, as shown by their search history. In Google terms, this act of tracking the searches of its users is referred to as being “scroogled.”
This ability to watch our actions causes concern as the reliance for the Internet is increased. Many Americans now use their computers for online banking and often put their credit card numbers and other personal information on websites all over the Internet. This causes me to wonder how much businesses and even the government actually know about my identity and personal interests.
To prevent worries similar to my own, the Federal Trade Commision, or FTC, has asked the advertising industry to create a “Do Not Track” option which allows internet users to keep away from online cookies and tracking even more than they can currently.
Luckily, big search engines such as Google and Internet Explorer 10 have listened and allow the Do Not Track button as an option on web browsers, but what about those companies that do not? Are Americans at risk of losing their privacy to businesses and their incessant spam advertisements? As society begins to shift towards their smartphones though, the ability to delete cookies is greatly decreased and the ability for pop-up advertisements is once again an issue due to technical issues.
Even with the new option to prevent Internet tracking on our computers, the issue with personalized advertisements is much bigger. As the Internet decides the advertisement and news stories that we see and read everyday, the ability to share values and ideas with one another becomes a daily struggle and the ability to argue with things we read online is limited. If the news we read is all relevant to our own personal views, how are there supposed to be strong debates about controversial topics? The truth is, there would not be due to the narrowing perspective of the world around us when we only read stories and ideas that we personally agree with.
The thought of businesses controlling our thoughts and feelings is one that strikes fear within many. If what we see is decided by companies who are looking to make a quick buck, the lives of Americans and other citizens will become altered and reality will become based around money and inanimate objects making social stratification, or the gap between the rich and poor, a much more concerning issue.
As long as the FTC and other organizations keep marketing publicity from getting too out of hand and too into our everyday lives, the issue concerning online tracking and the attachment of cookies will not become too much of an issue of privacy. But, if the advertisements on the side of my screen continue to replicate my everyday life and interests, than businesses need to understand that we all want our privacy, especially online.
