AT&T recently revealed that they have been using
permacookies. Cookies are temporary internet file; permacookies are the same,
except they’re permanent. These companies, Google, AT&T, etc., have been
using these permacookies to track what their users are doing on the internet.
AT&T allowed users to opt out and they will not share the data with others
outside of the company, but the problem is that they may still be collecting
it. As the article states, “While AT&T has ceased its current program, it
could reinstate the program or put a new one in its place at any given time.
Now that they have made consumers aware of the program, there is nothing,
including disclosure, that stands in their way.”
As we
have learned in our recent readings, and in recent events, collecting people’s
browsing habits is extremely profitable. That’s the short of it. These
companies just are not going to stop doing this unless there is serious
backlash to the point where people stop using the service. People have been
enraged time and time again, with the Google tracking cookie and the NSA to
many other examples. Our privacy as users has been breached so many times, and
all we can do is ask that they do not share it, but that’s not enough. Let’s
say everyone was so fed up with AT&T, they all switched to T-Mobile. A few
months go by, maybe even a year or two, and then: “T-Mobile tracks its users
browsing habits!” It’s very likely that most companies that have access to this
data are going to track it, and are going to get some money out of it one way
or another.
I don’t
even really have a problem with data collection as a concept. What annoys me is
that I’m never explicitly told that this is going on until it gets leaked. I
would really appreciate it being told to me in an explicit way, so that I am
not going to have to search through the terms of service or the privacy policy.
Even then, it’s sometimes not printed in the TOS or privacy policy. Also, I
just really do not want my stuff tracked so that it gets tailored to
advertising. I get that I’m in some target audience that some advertisers want
to reach, but I really don’t care. I don’t want to be in the “filter bubble.”
Sometimes it gets downright scary seeing the same ads for the same stuff all
the time on different websites. I enjoy spontaneity and finding new things just
like everyone else, but it gets extremely difficult to do so when the same
stuff is getting thrown in my face. If the data was used for social science, or
some kind of other righteous cause, then go for it. As long as it doesn’t alter
my experience in any way, then it’s fine. Also, if the data is going to the
betterment of the product, then I would be absolutely happy to participate. Just
send me a good ol’ survey and I’ll share my thoughts.
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