Apart from seeing targeted ads, why is data collected by companies about users a bad thing?
In: Technology
It could, and likely already has, lead to missuse. Back in 2012 there was a story about a person finding out their teen daughter was pregnant through mailed ads from Target.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
While there is some speculation that it never happened, it raises some serious questions about privacy.
https://medium.com/@colin.fraser/target-didnt-figure-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did-a6be13b973a5
Equally important to the conversation is whether or not the consumer should be compensated for generating revenue, what level of buying manipulation happens with your data, abd who ultimately owns said information. Could your employer or insurance provider be able to use your data to make value based judgements on you? Should you be paid a premium for collecting your information?
We have moved beyond the old argument of “Just don’t go online” if you don’t want your data out there.
Latest Answers