The implication of consumers being less in control of their
privacy can take some people out of their comfort zone. Some people feel violated
because their own information isn't just their own anymore. They constantly
have to be aware of what to put out and what to keep in. Others, are completely
okay with it because their perspective is that if the information you give out
willingly is yours , then you understand that it's is no longer yours, no
matter if you know what they will do with it or not, when you "give"
it away. After discussing it with others
in my class, I was seeing both sides evenly. Before, however, I was completely
one-sided and didn't like that I wasn't in control of my own information. Then, I realized I've been dealing with this in
real life. I have secrets and real personal information like my social security
number that if I tell my best friend, or a family friend or whomever, it
quickly becomes not just my personal information but theirs because they know
it. At the end, you just have to be
careful on who to trust and what information is okay to put out in the world to
others. If you are super paranoid about it there is options to avoid it, but
the chances are still there. How many times do you write your social security
number on a paper? That can land
basically anywhere as well.
The
thought of personalized advertisements targeting me because of internet
tracking seems just a part of my everyday life. I already advertisements
everywhere and some do appeal to me without even trying. Some try to appeal to
me and don't catch my eye at all. It's mostly on what is most likely to appeal
to someone and a certain time and that's great. Sometimes it actually does
work. I also think that advertisements do sell notions of "pleasure"
that reflect harm like McDonalds and obesity, but you get to chose if you want
to eat it every day or having a 5-hour energy drink on your early mornings. There's been research that those drinks aren't healthy for people.
It's like that saying too much of anything can't be good but we can control our
decisions. I don't think these trends are harmful if you are aware of what they
advertisements are trying to do and if you give in, it can be positive because
you can end up satisfied... sometimes. It's just in the perspective one holds.
To go along with giving our your personal information, people give it out all the time cause how often do you give someone your email or phone number. People tend to hand their credit cards over to other people all the time when paying for stuff, especially when you think about how we’re always told to guard our credit and debit card information. To answer your question, I don’t give out my social security number the need to never really comes up.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good point. Every day people put them selves at risk. When they pay with a card there is a risk that that information can be taken by someone. But most don't give that much thought. When you apply for a job, they ask you for your social security number. And though it is very unlikely you may wonder of the potential that that information get out to the wrong person. These are daily things that we don't we have to deal with. But when it come to internet tracking the only information they get is what sites we visit.
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting point with advertising. We could simply not just buy a product and it would not have an effect on us. I think that is part of the reason why ads try so hard to convey happiness and play off of our wants and desires. It is easy to ignore an ad when it does not seem to relate to you but what if you were depressed and suddenly saw an ad showing these people happy and carefree? Wouldn’t you want to be like them and think about the product and images shown with it more? I think we often times know something is bad or a waste of our money, but we buy it anyway for the chance of happiness or the way it makes us feel, similar to stress eating. They know that they should not be eating that much but they often do it anyway because they have come to associate it with good feelings.
ReplyDeleteT. Bowers
Personally I think that not buying things is the best way to avoid all of this. Sadly, some things are necessary for survival. I'd like to point out that there has been a fairly large movement of returning to local business. I know a few people who only buy their necesseties from local stores or farmer's markets. It's not very popular and it is more tome consuming, but it's interesting to think that internet tracking may not even effect them.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting you say buying something because of advertisements can be positive as long as it satisfies you. While this is true to an extent, I think it’s still unethical to make you get something you don’t need or want. A person can easily get addicted to heroin even if they thought they’d never want or need it. All it takes is a drug dealer clever enough to make a person try it for fun. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not anticapitalistic. It’s just that I think perpetuating stereotypes for the sake of sales is wrong.
ReplyDelete