How much do online advertisers really know about you?
This should concern everyone in my opinion. I would encourage people to read the entire article.
Source: Digital Trends
We’re often sold the line that companies are only collecting anonymized data. This is something that Narayanan takes exception to, for a number of reasons.
“The impact of personalization, in terms of different prices or products, is equally feasible whether or not they have your real name. It’s completely irrelevant to their calculations and the intended use of the data for targeting that is so objectionable to a lot of users,” he explains.
We also have more to worry about than just the advertisers.
“Some of our research has shown how the NSA can actually piggyback on these cookies for their own mass surveillance or targeted surveillance,” says Narayanan, “These third party services are making the NSA’s job easier.”
There’s also a real risk that the anonymized data may be exposed and linked to your actual identity.
“The impact of personalization, in terms of different prices or products, is equally feasible whether or not they have your real name. It’s completely irrelevant to their calculations and the intended use of the data for targeting that is so objectionable to a lot of users,” he explains.
We also have more to worry about than just the advertisers.
“Some of our research has shown how the NSA can actually piggyback on these cookies for their own mass surveillance or targeted surveillance,” says Narayanan, “These third party services are making the NSA’s job easier.”
There’s also a real risk that the anonymized data may be exposed and linked to your actual identity.