TECHNOLOGY MAKES US A MARKETING TOOL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND TARGET

What do they know about us?

By: Michael Burnie & Evan Pugh

AGENDA

Introduction Advertising in our world and the

digital world Targeted advertising & Facebook Internet privacy: Twitter, Google, Microsoft Quiz Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Every day, people are subjected to several forms of advertising, much of which is targeted.

Data from photos, videos, sites you visit, and the products you buy are all used to market you.

For most people, internet privacy is compromised.

ADVERTISING

As technology advances, people are exposed to more advertising throughout the day.

It is easier for businesses to advertise digitally now that more people have internet access on the go.

Advertising is being found in more and more places in the digital world.

ADVERTISING CONT’D

For 2012 in the US alone, 36 companies spent over 1 billion dollars annually in advertising, with Procter & Gamble spending the most at 4.9 billion dollars (Austin).

Although more advertising dollars are spent on television, the digital market is growing at a much faster pace.

TARGETED ADVERTISING

A type of advertising that is tailored to consumers based on demographics, behaviour variables, and other information.

Businesses can learn about you through what you buy, search, browse, and through your connections.

TARGETED ADVERTISING: FACEBOOK

Facebook’s primary revenue stream is through advertising, thus they have very powerful algorithms to direct ads on you

The more information you provide Facebook (willing or not), the more direct ads you will see.

“It turns out that your friends are used to fill in the gaps… Even a barebones profile has a few bits of information about you” (Klosowski, 2013).

Luckily, there are methods for blocking the targeted ads, including through Facebook preferences and ad-blockers.

How many websites do you visit on a daily basis?

Do you visit these websites on a computer or a mobile device such as a phone or

tablet?

INTERNET PRIVACY

Do Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and other large IT businesses really value your privacy?

Many people agree to license agreements presented to them without reading the content.

Most mobile phones today have GPS built in, which can be used by Apple, Google, etc. to target advertising and predict behaviour.

INTERNET PRIVACY: TWITTER

From Twitter’s Terms of Service:“you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).”

Posting Tweets grants them rights to reuse your content however they wish.

INTERNET PRIVACY: GOOGLE

Google introduced a unified privacy policy in 2012 to replace their existing 60+ policies from the services they offer.

This policy was reviewed and criticised as being too vague. It does not outline how they are going to specifically use users’ information.

Policies are intended for outlining specific details regarding data usage.

INTERNET PRIVACY: MICROSOFT

In May 2013, Edward Snowden of the CIA released information regarding top-secret US and British government mass surveillance programs.

Microsoft provided the NSA with chat messages sent over their Outlook portal, including Skype and SkyDrive.

Even though this violated Microsoft’s privacy policy, Microsoft provided a great deal of information to the United States government.

INTERNET PRIVACY QUIZ!

Do you read privacy policies, or research them, prior to accepting them?

Do you change your privacy settings on Facebook, Google+, and other social websites and applications?

Do you carefully monitor the information you provide on the internet?

Do you often use different passwords (or variations) for different websites?

QUIZ DISCUSSION

Chances are, none of us can say yes to all of these questions. Even if you can, your friends and family may be providing information about you without you realizing it.

Although it’s becoming more difficult to keep your privacy, simply be careful to: review the policies you accept and, screen the information you give out on the

web

CONCLUSION

Companies will spend a great amount of money to expose you to products and services, most of which are targeted towards you.

Although big businesses today have a lot of control over your information, there are ways of protecting your privacy.

Don’t allow businesses to take advantage of you. They serve us, not the other way around. Our private information does not exist to line their pockets, and you have a right to hold private information.

REFERENCES

Austin, C. (2012, November 11). THE BILLIONAIRES' CLUB: Only 36 Companies Have $1,000 Million-Plus Ad Budgets. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-35-companies-that-spent-1-billion-on- ads-in-2011-2012-11?op=1

Gleeson, B. (2012, November 20). TV Advertising VS Digital Marketing. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2012/11/20/tv-advertising-vs-digital-marketing/

Google's privacy policy branded 'too vague'. (2012, March 9). The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9133222/Googles-privacy-policy-branded-too-vague.html

Klosowski, T. (2013, April 11). How Facebook Uses Your Data to Target Ads, Even Offline.Lifehacker. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5994380/how-

facebook-uses-your-data-to-target-ads-even-offline Piermont, E. (2013, July 11). Microsoft helped the NSA bypass encryption, new

Snowden leak reveals. Russian Times. Retrieved from http://rt.com/usa/microsoft-nsa-snowden-leak-971/

Terms of Service. (2012, June 25). Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/tos