Recently, I was told of a friend who went shopping in Bed, Bath and Beyond. He did not purchase anything, did not sign anything or indicate what he was looking for to any sales associate. By the time he arrived home he was receiving emails from Bed, Bath and Beyond offering specials and deals. This may be old news to some but my research showed that the iPhone has a tracking device inside of it that syncs with your computer the minute you log in, letting it know where you have been.
Something similar happens to me regularly. I have gone searching for something specific online at Ebay only to go onto Facebook and get a reminder there on my homepage feed, "Did I still want to buy it?" My homepage is filled with advertisements of what they think I might be interested in buying based on data they could only have gleaned from my personal information. More recently, I registered as a follower of the very popular blog, Quora. I have never stated what kind of blogs I might be interested in and yet from the outset, Quora began showing me blogs that it thought that I might want to read. Not that they always get it right. Quora certainly has sent me blogs in which I am not interested.
In another more insidious example, I was phoning around to get quotes for car insurance. In speaking with one particular insurance company, the salesman proceeded to tell me the names and details of every single individual living in our home. He had all of these details at his fingertips. He seemed a little taken aback when I wanted to know from where he had sourced that information. Needless to say, I did not get an answer to my question. When I asked my American friends about their feelings about commercial enterprises having such intimate knowledge of what is happening within their homes, they seemed nonplussed. It was something that they were accustomed to and thought nothing of.
Are we being lulled into a sense that our privacy is legitimately up for grabs? Why is it that we have allowed it to get to this point where literally, these private corporations can look into our very homes? I hear many speak about concerns about government interference and yet seem totally unconcerned about the interference of private enterprises. Identity theft has become a real issue lately, said to cost the economy in the billions and yet we freely allow marketers and organizations to hold our information without even so much as giving them permission. As I let the hapless car insurance salesman know, I had never given them permission to hold or access my information.
So why is this all so terrible to me?
1. I don't appreciate being told me what or where I should buy, let alone what I should be thinking. Much of the information with which I am being bombarded is clearly designed to encourage new behavior. It has the smack of manipulation to it. Quite often the marketing process also completely misses the mark, offering me something I don't want. I give for an example, being constantly sent advertisements for dating services for men my age, based on earlier single days, when I am now a happily married woman.
2. I consider that where and when I go to be my private concern and not for some bot to be monitoring and passing on to all-seeing eyes in the background. I should have the right to browse in a store and not to be chased afterwards, almost harassed with their advertising material.
3. For me my home is my castle, my refuge. I want to be able to decide who comes and goes within my home, whether real or virtual.
4. There are no visible means to opt out of this process unless you completely disconnect from technology altogether. Not a very viable option in the 21st Century. Yes, I like to have a cell phone so that I am able to contact family and others close to me as well as for my business. There are also real advantages in connecting to the internet to peruse subjects, find deals and make connections. But must I have to do this at the price of my privacy?
I am not sure about the answer to all this. Privacy watchdogs have begun to make some headway in Europe regarding Google but there is still much work to be done within the United States. A map (granted a little dated at 2007) produced by Privacy International reveals the United States is labelled as an "endemic surveillance society" in the privacy rankings equivalent to Russia and China. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Privacy_International_2007_privacy_ranking_map.png.
So I am speaking up and saying that this has to stop and greater protections need to be afforded to us. Who is with me?
No comments:
Post a Comment