Big data is such a hot topic right now. I enjoy learning about it almost as much as I am creeped out by it! There are so many cool things you can learn by looking and using big data, but there are also a lot of harmful things you can do, as well (but it could also be unintentional, too). I found it really interesting that people who knew their privacy had been invaded (their information was already being manipulated and used in some way) didn't care enough to pay even $1 to keep their information safeguarded, while people who thought their information was protected would be willing to pay. As one person said, people were "resigned" to the fact that their information was out there and being used, and there isn't much to be done about it. Me, personally, I don't really care that they know my googling habits. This somehow feels like a less serious issue than government surveillance, even though there's probably a lot of overlap. However, in the advertisement industry specifically, I don't care that they target ads towards me, mostly because I am not usually swayed by ads (unless they're for cool phone games because I'm always looking for new phone games). In some ways, it does feel a little invasive, and it's sort of creepy how quickly things will pop up. Just today I had some things remaining in my cart for F21, and I opened a Facebook tab and lo and behold, there were the sandals I was just looking at. This actually reminds me of when this happened to me and Erin last year (hopefully Erin doesn't mind that I screenshotted our text convo): She had sent me a link to the Bowflex trying to explain what it is, and two hours later while she was on instagram, she had an ad. Two minutes later, I opened instagram, and I also had the same ad! We laughed about it then and I still think it's pretty funny, but that just goes to show how pervasive this issue really is.
As for a company's responsibilities regarding this information, I do think that they really need to keep it private and use it for their own use. I find some comfort when I see on the Google Ads page that they do not distribute my personal information to anyone else, but then again, maybe the Terms and Conditions said they had the right to lie to me, so who even knows. However, by using their product, I think I sort of give up some of my rights to perfect privacy. I hope that they don't use it for anything bad, but if it's benign like targeted ads, I don't really mind. I don't really want to re-delve into the issue of government surveillance and our personal information on our phones and computers, so I'll stop there. On another note, I will be the first to admit that I actively use the AdBlockPlus Google Chrome extension. I dislike the multitudes of ads, and I like that it blocks ads while I watch shows on Hulu (mind you, I pay for Hulu, so I don't see why I need to further generate revenue for them via their ads). That being said, in a general sense, I do not think that online advertising is typically invasive or intolerable. I deal with the ads I see on Facebook (but do get annoyed when they added the feature that allows ads to play mid-video to force to you to watch them while I'm right in the middle of the cute puppy video I was watching), and I typically don't mind seeing them, so long as they do not pop up and block the screen I'm looking at. That's when I find them a little too invasive. However, if a site says "PSSST we noticed you're using an AdBlocker" and politely ask me to turn it off, I comply. I don't care if they want me to turn it off so long as I can still enjoy the content of what I'm looking at, and if giving them revenue by "looking" at ads is going to keep their business up and running, I'll happily contribute because it has no effect on me. I ignore 90% of the ads I see anyway. As to whether I think it's ethical to use ad blocking tools, I don't think I have an obligation to "pay" for a site that is free, even if I am using their services. If they wanted to force me to pay, then they shouldn't offer their services up for free. As one of the articles had also mentioned, "It's not unethical to do things because other people don't like them". Though this isn't a universal truth, I think that it applies in this case.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJulianna Yee. Archives
March 2018
Categories |