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US Consumers Clueless About Online Tracking
Arashtamere writes "A study on consumer perceptions about online privacy, undertaken by the Samuelson Clinic at the University of California and the Annenberg Public Policy Center, found that the average American consumer is largely unaware that every move they make online can be, and often is, tracked by online marketers and advertising networks. Those surveyed showed little knowledge on the extent to which online tracking is happening or how the information obtained can be used. More than half of those surveyed — about 55 percent — falsely assumed that a company's privacy polices prohibited it from sharing their addresses and purchases with affiliated companies. Nearly four out of 10 online shoppers falsely believed that a company's privacy policy prohibits it from using information to analyze an individuals' activities online. And a similar number assumed that an online privacy policy meant that a company they're doing business with wouldn't collect data on their online activities and combine it with other information to create a behavioral profile."
The Department of the Obvious?
I am not sure which is more astonishing: That so few people have bothered to read the privacy policies of the web sites they frequent, or that there are people who think the solution is legislation.
"Preceded by itself yields falsehood" preceded by itself yields falsehood.
I think you missed the point. Joe Consumer does trust Mr. Marketer, but that trust is misplaced. The problem isn't lack of transparency: it's that Joe Consumer actually doesn't really give a shit one way or the other.
.nosig
Joe Consumer actually doesn't really give a shit one way or the other.
This is what your run-of-the-mill Slashbot fails to grasp. Most people just don't care. And any attempt at educating family and friends (or the masses) goes in one ear and out the other.
When donating them money in 2006, I specified a "special" address, which contained "from ACLU" in the "Line 1" of the address. The actual address went to "Line 2" of their form. I do this with all establishments I'm dealing with — just in case.
A month or so later invitations to subscribe to "The Nation" (a disgusting uber-Left rag) started showing up bearing the "from ACLU" address...
Now, I expected the ACLU to be bi-partisan — and concerned with my privacy. Asking me for money the next year is fair game. But sharing my info with other — completely unrelated — organizations? Very disappointing...
Somehow, nothing but parcels from Amazon has shown up bearing the "from Amazon" address.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
It isn't a surprise, becuase if people understood how much is tracked and what companies like Google know about them, there would be outrage. No one should have the level of detailed information about a consumer that Google gathers. They know who you email and IM with and about what, what sites you visit, what you buy, what your interests are, where you are and with whom, your stick market interests and investments and more. Even the Soviet era KGB would envy Google data collection and audacity.
Some (GOogle) will say that the privacy policy explains all this. Humbug! First you have to follow a link to find the policy. Second the lawyers and marketeers have obfuscated what is really being done. Further, they can change the policy without notice. When they change you have to know they have changed and then go and read the new policy. How one is supposed to know when no notice is provided is a mystery.
All in all, Google is doing a lot of evil if you believe in personal privacy. They are an invasive collector of personal data and they hide the extent and nature of what they are doing. Google makes Microsoft bashful in their business practices.
You're absolutely right. Pretty much all consumers are clueless. No wonder - their chief source of information about a product is advertising.
Look at how many by sugar water labeled as "Grape Drink" or "Orange Drink", thinking that there must be real juice in it, because they won't take the time to read the label, and manufacturers aren't required to state in bold letters "THIS IS NOT REAL FRUIT JUICE". Or "Best mileage in its class!" - which really means "it sucks gas, so we made a 'class' with others that suck even more for bogus comparison purposes". Or "dermatologist - recommended". Or the P4s that were, clock tick for clock tick, slower than the P3s, but would "enhance your multimedia experience."
Maybe public education should include classes in Critical Analysis of Ad Claims 101 and Weasel Word Composition.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
and honestly? i side with the average guy on the street with (non)this issue. the average guy on the street looks at the data generated from his random meanderings on the web as useless, unimportant, and not a matter of privacy. and you know what?: he's right. frankly, that some database might know what i visited on eBay, then amazon.com, then netflix is not some horrible raping of my psyche. it really isn't
/dev/null but you're fucking insane if you don't think it's important to protect your privacy.
It isn't when it's some third-party non-important entity looking at your surfing habits. However, it is very much an issue when the government decides that because you are waiving your Constitutional rights they can subpoena that same information to use as part of their illegal nationwide net of information on citizens.
I'm sorry if YOU are lumped in with the general uncaring public about something that shouldn't be the business of any group of Marketers, government agencies, or anyone except
Thanks for offering me the chance to bite, I enjoy it sometimes.
If you are not the normal consumer of your Pepto Dismal purchases, please fill out the attached "Not A Regular Consumer" form to identify said user and your HPPR will be returned to the normal-risk group.
Sincerely,
Your Health Insurance Extortionist
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
You'd think that if someone is going to buy a car, that they would know everything a certified mechanic knew.
Or, maybe the people that you talked to when you were tech support were just using their computers for entertainment and have neither the need nor the desire to "get under the hood" of the computer.
Typically people in tech support forget that they are paid to support the person calling them, not the other way around. I understand dealing with the public can be a pain in the ass, but if you don't like it, do your profession and the public a favor and quit.
I am in the credit-card processing business.
I can tell you that as popular as this myth is, VISA is not generally able to track what you purchase. Generally, all they know is where you shopped and how much you spent, not what individual items you spent on.
The nearest there is to an exception to this is in hotels and fleet card purchases -- in the case of Hotels, VISA gets a breakdown of what money was spent on the room vs the room service vs the hotel lobby store, etc. Still doesn't know what actual items were purchased, but they do get told your check-in and check-out dates and some other things. For fleet card they might get told how many gallons of gas you purchased, but that's about it.
I know, I grew up thinking VISA was watching me, too, but it turns out it's just not watching that closesly. It doesn't have the capability; the protocols whereby credit card information are transferred just don't have any specification for that level of reporting.
I prefere getting the tampon commercials. Atleast that way I am not brainwashed into buying something I otherwise wouldn't. Of course, the optimal solution to avoid the subtle brainwashing is to use adblocking and adskipping to avoid ads completly.
And, no I don't think brainwashing is a harsh word to use. Ads are designed specially to make you buy products you otherwise wouldn't, mostly by making you feel more familiar and comfortable with the product. Many slashdot readers probably think that they are above getting tricked by commercials, but that is the delusion that adcompanies want you to believe. Intelligence doesn't matter into it, because ads plays on more primal instincts. The only way to get away from it is to avoid the ads completly.
One common argument for ads is that they inform you of products, but that is a very weak argument. Ads are very rarely informative. Information in general is better left to 3d party reviews. Of course, with the reach of todays marketing departments it is difficult to know how influenced the 3d party reviewers are, but it is atleast trying.
So how do this tie in with online tracking. It is simple, The more accuratly that they can advertise products that you could be convinced into buying, the more powerfully they are able to change your opinions.