Online Tracking

The common people have long been aware of the threats posted by online website and social media networks that track their each and every customer. Google has long been criticized for tracking user data and location using several of its services. Even though people long known that Google knows each and every that the person has ever been with his smartphone. Google has shielded against the critics by saying that the users have the option of turning the tracking service off if they wish to do so. Recently critics mainly including online retailer and publishers have started a campaign against Facebook’s efforts to track users across the internet.

Facebook believes its social media platform can be much improved to target consumers with ads specific to that person by collecting the data from the internet itself. Websites including vendors and other social media networks have found out long ago that Facebook can extract user’s data from other websites. They have put in measures to hold back any user information from propagating to Facebook. Since Facebook‘s primary source of revenue is advertisement, it needs to figure out a way to keep improving its algorithm to provide users with better targeted ads. Facebook points out the fact that it needs to provide this crucial information to online retailers who need to know their customers in one way or another. Facebook says it hasn’t began using data from other sites yet but it does plan on doing so in the very near future. It assured other website owners that it will let businesses opt out of the system from participating and providing data. It’s hard to see the motivation for any business owner to provide its valuable data to Facebook for free of charge. As far as legality is concerned, Facebook, Google, Amazon and all other technology companies have used their Terms of Service to protect themselves. These companies make themselves the owner of the data posted by users as part of their Terms of Service.

Not so long ago, Americans and everyone else found out that almost all of the technology companies have been providing the data they collect to NSA and other government agencies. In light of this revelation, critics all around the world have been asking how ethical it is on part of the companies to collect & store data in the first place. Even though these companies provide some way or another to opt out of the data collection program, critics question what exactly is stopping the companies to collect the data nonetheless. People and companies have argued that if they do not want their data to be collected they should stop using the social media services all together. There is nothing stopping a laymen deactivating his services with social media platforms and stop feeding data to them. My personal opinion is that as long as a person doesn’t have something to hide, there’s no reason he or she should feel afraid of sending out their personal data. As far as other companies and corporations are concerned from whom Facebook is grabbing data without any additional costs to themselves, I feel like this is a start of another pattern. I believe in the very near future all other technology companies and corporations will start using this technique to collect even more user information. Soon it will be a common site to see one’s information freely flowing from one website to another regardless of industry or business model of the underlying companies.