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.
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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