Sara M. Watson is not a truck owner, nor does she like shooting video games or have an interest in gangs and organized crime. However her online advertising profile says that she is. Like many of us, Watson is a victim of data companies that buy and sell our information. Companies that you've likely never heard of like Acxiom are buying and selling your information without you knowing it.
In actually, Watson is a technology critic and a Fellow of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. On Tuesday, she came to Marquette as a part of the Diederich College of Communication Nieman Conference the focus of which was data visualization. Watson's presentation entitled "Legible Ethics: Visualizing Data and its Uses" was based on a larger work of her's that ran as a series on Al Jazeera America from September to October of this year. In that series Watson exposed how our data was found, collected and used. In her work, she discovered that not all of the data that these companies have is true and even if it is, the information is used in questionable ways at best. It is understood that advertising companies need to make money to thrive and that means personalizing products to us in the best way that they can, but at what cost?
Watson believes that the concept of privacy no longer exists online. "I don't know what word to use for it, but it isn't privacy." Our information is readily had and is used to attract us to certain products or surveys. "We don't how we are being judged," Watson said. "We could be harmed without ever knowing why." There is a misconception that Facebook and Google are what allows our information to be used freely. However Watson says that these are just platforms, "bubbles," separate from the companies that buy and sell our data. In fact, it is usual post offices that sell our data, as it is becoming the only way they can stay afloat.
But it doesn't stop at postal addresses and housing information, Watson says that now browsing history is being linked to voting records. In a process called "onboarding," online and offline behaviors are being linked together. "Online life and offline life is really blurring," Watson said. What's more is that some data being exchanged included lists of erectile dysfunction sufferers and families that had lost children. There may be some rationality to having that information, but what's unclear is in what context could it be used in an ethical manner.
Even then, not all the data is correct. In an Federal Trade Commission study, the FTC analyzed nine data brokers to gather some understanding of the industry. The study found that seven of the nine received data from one another in a lack of transparency that could and did allow for some misinformation, hence Watson's perceived interest in trucks, video games, or gangs. It also found that some data comes from an "inferred profile" that makes assumptions based on your browser history.
I hung on to every word of the presentation. These were things which I heard about, but never really had an interest or understood the enormity of the situation. Our personal information is being used to sell us products and we don't realize it. Everything advertisement on our screens is there for some specific reason, but you can investigate them by going into your Google ads settings where you will be able to control what types of ads you see and disable those you do not. Regardless, our data is being tracked and gathered online it is something we all must be aware of.
If you have any questions or accounts of how data has been used against you, you can contact her via twitter @smwat.
In actually, Watson is a technology critic and a Fellow of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. On Tuesday, she came to Marquette as a part of the Diederich College of Communication Nieman Conference the focus of which was data visualization. Watson's presentation entitled "Legible Ethics: Visualizing Data and its Uses" was based on a larger work of her's that ran as a series on Al Jazeera America from September to October of this year. In that series Watson exposed how our data was found, collected and used. In her work, she discovered that not all of the data that these companies have is true and even if it is, the information is used in questionable ways at best. It is understood that advertising companies need to make money to thrive and that means personalizing products to us in the best way that they can, but at what cost?
Watson believes that the concept of privacy no longer exists online. "I don't know what word to use for it, but it isn't privacy." Our information is readily had and is used to attract us to certain products or surveys. "We don't how we are being judged," Watson said. "We could be harmed without ever knowing why." There is a misconception that Facebook and Google are what allows our information to be used freely. However Watson says that these are just platforms, "bubbles," separate from the companies that buy and sell our data. In fact, it is usual post offices that sell our data, as it is becoming the only way they can stay afloat.
But it doesn't stop at postal addresses and housing information, Watson says that now browsing history is being linked to voting records. In a process called "onboarding," online and offline behaviors are being linked together. "Online life and offline life is really blurring," Watson said. What's more is that some data being exchanged included lists of erectile dysfunction sufferers and families that had lost children. There may be some rationality to having that information, but what's unclear is in what context could it be used in an ethical manner.
Even then, not all the data is correct. In an Federal Trade Commission study, the FTC analyzed nine data brokers to gather some understanding of the industry. The study found that seven of the nine received data from one another in a lack of transparency that could and did allow for some misinformation, hence Watson's perceived interest in trucks, video games, or gangs. It also found that some data comes from an "inferred profile" that makes assumptions based on your browser history.
I hung on to every word of the presentation. These were things which I heard about, but never really had an interest or understood the enormity of the situation. Our personal information is being used to sell us products and we don't realize it. Everything advertisement on our screens is there for some specific reason, but you can investigate them by going into your Google ads settings where you will be able to control what types of ads you see and disable those you do not. Regardless, our data is being tracked and gathered online it is something we all must be aware of.
If you have any questions or accounts of how data has been used against you, you can contact her via twitter @smwat.