In yesterday's post I mentioned the use of data analytics which is a tool used today by many large corporations to collect and analyze data about each of us and then to use that analysis to categorize us for purposes of targeted marketing. There are government agencies that do something similar to evaluate each individual as a potential threat for criminal or, anti-state activity. We are extremely trackable, analyzable and vulnerable to the misuse of that data.
With this Blog, I am able to access certain very basic statistics regarding visitors who view and read my posts. It is very limited to things such as the number of visitors, approximately when they view a post, what type of access did they use (phone vs. laptop), the type of Browser they used (Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.) and in a very limited sense, their geographic location (United States, Australia, China, etc.). These types of things are routinely tracked by most large businesses.
Facebook is one of the entities that closely tracks and monitors all of your activity. They collect data on what you see, what you click on, when and how much time you spend online, whether your views are conservative, liberal or, something in between, and they track your use of certain key words for which only their marketing/psych departments understand the reasoning -- I'm sure they've done huge correlation studies between word use and behavior. The advertisements you see are all geared to your particular stated preferences (see Profile) and then tailored to your demonstrated behavior.
Within the last few weeks I have noticed a significant "spike" in visits to this blog. They seem to occur at a regular interval and last for only a brief period. Those visits are from a "bot." A bot is a robotic entity designed to search for data. Search engines such as Google and Bing are bots. They reach into every corner of the Internet and glean data which is then available to be matched to search criteria. They monetize the searches by selling advertising.
Often, when you do a search on a tool such as Google, the first few items that pop up will be clickable advertisements. Always, somewhere on the search page will be an advertisement of some type -- often disguised to look like links to the actual document or information for which you were searching. I love to have the ability to search online, but always in the back of my mind is the fact that I am also searchable. Be careful what you click.
Much of what we do is recorded electronically. Every time we make a purchase with a credit card the transaction is recorded. Every time we shop online the transaction is recorded. Our faces, automobile license plates and our activity are recorded on countless cameras around the world -- especially in large cities. We are almost universally trackable by our cell phones alone which include GPS chips.
Along with the pervasiveness of targeted advertising based on what are often inaccurate classifications developed from previous behavior comes the vulnerability to criminal activity. These are often in the form of Phishing scams, or advertisements leading to sites which take your money without delivering your purchase. Most of those are short-lived due to the "policing" activity of the giant companies such as Facebook and Google. However short-lived they might be, it is usually only after a large number of people have fallen prey to their activities that such nefarious sites are shut down.
Theoretically, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from the use of data analytic software. In the hands of honest, honorable people I would agree. How many of you believe everyone out there in this old fallen world has honest intent? Not me.
Be careful in the e-World. Change your passwords frequently and use good judgement on what you "click."
No comments:
Post a Comment