Page 36 - Cyber Warnings December 2015

Consumer tracking by advertisers: an emerging threat to

corporate data networks?

Are you annoyed by ads that keep following you on the internet? You are not alone. Like millions
of other consumers, you have allowed websites and their advertising providers to track and share
your online activity.

When you unwittingly accept a website’s terms and conditions by clicking on the “I Agree” button,
you grant the site permission to place trackers and cookies in your browser. Just visit a news site,
and you will discover that the site and its advertising partners place upwards of 45 cookies and
trackers on your device to start tracking your activities from then onwards…

Simply put, websites, even trusted ones, share your online profile, likes, dislikes, browsing behavior
and buying history with their “marketing partners” including ad platforms and data brokers everyday.
Most data brokers and ad platforms are companies you haven’t heard of and certainly don’t
implicitly trust.

The Federal Trade Commission in its recent consumer online privacy report states data brokers
may have aggregated up to 3000 items of online and offline information on each of us, including our
name, address, mortgage and financial information and even the items of grocery we bought
recently to create profiles. These profiles are sold to advertising platforms and websites to generate
targeted ads and contents tailored to your profile.

What does this mean to you as a consumer? When businesses share your personal data, you see
only what the website wants you to see, including targeted content, pre-selected products, demand
pricing, etc.

We are inclined to think targeting is good, since we are shown products that we are interested in,
but that's is not necessarily how it works.

Imagine if all the products that you are shown are the most expensive ones just because you
bought a sports car for $100,000. Imagine people with health or disabilities- they need to worry
about their profiles that includes their health and buying history being shared with unauthorized
parties and possibly prospective employers.

Meaningful and pertinent ads don’t bother most people. They know that ads keep
bloggers/publishers/ merchants in business. It is the tracking/profiling/targeting by untrusted sites
that bothers them. At some point targeting and customizing, crosses over into a form of
surveillance.

A recent Pew Research survey indicates 9 out 10 Americans feel they have lost control over how
companies collect and use their data. The same survey indicates that 93% of the respondents want
to take control of their online privacy including who views and collects their data and guarding
against “e-stalking” by untrusted sites or data brokers.

36 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – December 2015 Edition
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