Slashdot Mirror
What Data Mining Firms Know About You
storagedude writes "Time writer Joel Stein spent three months learning what data mining companies know about him. After learning everything the companies had profiled about him (some of it inaccurate) — social security number, age, marital status, religion, income, debt, interests, browsing and spending habits — he had a surprising reaction: complacency. '... oddly, the more I learned about data mining, the less concerned I was. Sure, I was surprised that all these companies are actually keeping permanent files on me. But I don't think they will do anything with them that does me any harm. There should be protections for vulnerable groups, and a government-enforced opt-out mechanism would be great for accountability. But I'm pretty sure that, like me, most people won't use that option. Of the people who actually find the Ads Preferences page — and these must be people pretty into privacy — only 1 in 8 asks to opt out of being tracked. The rest, apparently, just like to read privacy rules."
I don't trust any company is goal is to make a profit. Full stop.
Dear Hitler, I'm Jewish and I would like to opt-out of your anti-semitism movement. Thanks!
Of the people who actually find the Ads Preferences page — and these must be people pretty into privacy — only 1 in 8 asks to opt out of being tracked.
That's probably because people who are into privacy know that opting out will most likely show up in somebody else's DB as another data point, i.e. somebody who's concerned about privacy.
Personally I'm more comfortable using no script, adlock plus, proxies, etc.
^^vv<><>BA
The problem isn't what the data mining companies would do with the data, themselves. I don't think it's even with what companies who buy their services would do, frankly...although I know that on Slashdot that may not be a widely-held or even popular belief. What's dangerous is that the data mining companies also provide data to the government. And why is that? Because the data mining companies collect and compile data that our government is forbidden from collecting directly without having to get legal authorization (like a warrant, for example). It's a workaround that circumvents controls meant to protect the privacy of individuals from their own rulers. Of course, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone in the USA; when it comes to civil rights, your mileage may vary.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
The threat isn't what they are going to do with your data; it is the potential that it presents.
Sure, there is no reason why they are going to one day say, "Hey! Let's look at So-and-so's record and see what we can do to him as a result."
However, what can happen is that one day you become a "person of interest" to someone somewhere for some reason (quite possibly entirely by mistake). Then you can expect that that entity is going to buy all the data they can on you and sift through every detail of it.
And don't forget that once this data exists, it pretty much never goes away. Terabytes are incredibly cheap these days, and data companies most likely invest in lots of backup and redundancy.
P.S. For kicks, also think about what may happen if such a company gets hacked. Enjoy.
It's funny how some people rage against the government for being less efficient than the private sector (which it is not) and then turn around and get paranoid about how this supposedly inept bunch of keystone cops is going to pull off some incredibly complex fascist task.
Someone had to do it.