by They have led to a proliferation of fake news and clickbait, fuelled surveillance capitalism and normalised pervasive tracking and data-mining. Then there’s their effect on democracy ...2019 article. I remember when I was new to the internet I looked at some speakers and then after that there was speakers everywhere. It felt spooky, like big brother, when I realised how I was being watched. But personalised adverts are not better for anyone. They have turned the internet into a surveillance nightmare. The fact that marketers are able to serve me ads for yoga mats the moment after I’ve booked a yoga class is not worth trading my privacy for. It’s not worth being stalked online by a yoga mat I once clicked on. It’s not worth having my every move analysed by a million activity trackers.
Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important:
This could be interesting, too:
John Quiggin writes The war to end war, still going on
New Economics Foundation writes Reclaiming our regions
New Economics Foundation writes New Economics Podcast: Why is the benefits system failing disabled people
Michael Hudson writes Jill Stein: Splitting the Pro-Imperial Vote
They have led to a proliferation of fake news and clickbait, fuelled surveillance capitalism and normalised pervasive tracking and data-mining. Then there’s their effect on democracy ...
I remember when I was new to the internet I looked at some speakers and then after that there was speakers everywhere. It felt spooky, like big brother, when I realised how I was being watched.
But personalised adverts are not better for anyone. They have turned the internet into a surveillance nightmare. The fact that marketers are able to serve me ads for yoga mats the moment after I’ve booked a yoga class is not worth trading my privacy for. It’s not worth being stalked online by a yoga mat I once clicked on. It’s not worth having my every move analysed by a million activity trackers. It’s not worth having my phone battery drained by the data-guzzling ads that render many parts of the internet borderline unnavigable.
The Guardian
Targeted ads are one of the world's most destructive trends. Here's why, by Arwa Mahdawi