Internet privacy, data-mining, and new-age selfishness.

[dandon_trj]

During class this week, one of my professors went off on a tangent about how he thinks Google is the devil. Specifically, he thinks they're the devil for analyzing our searches and preferences to deliver targeted ads to us. That's why he always surfs anonymously [you know, the various incognito modes that browsers have], stores nothing on third-

Comments

[shinkouchou]

I completely agree. It's not all a bad thing. I'd much rather get targeted ads than random ads any day. And like you said - who really thinks you're interesting enough to go over all of that info themselves?

[dandon_trj]

I'm glad I'm not alone in this. My friend sitting next to me in class seemed to agree with the prof, and at that point I entertained the notion that maybe I'm the one with extreme views. And hell, maybe I still am. But it's nice to have sympathizers! ♥

[quixxoticelixir]

I agree with you!

[dandon_trj]

Comrade!

[dandon_trj]

Yepyep. Made that point in the analysis; advertisers are always looking for market segmentation. If I watch Comedy Central at 2am because I can't sleep, advertisers presume I'm very lonely, horny, and probably need to earn my GED. I enjoy the fact that keyword-based ad triggers are slightly less presumptuous than that. [Really, I think a large portion of my prof's agenda stems from the fact that he deals with trademarks for a living, Google has been sued about a dozen times for consumer confusion through their AdWords program, and the last round didn't go so well for the trademark holder.]

[dandon_trj]

Ooh, advertisers hate you so very much. ♥

Also, lol icon.

[fieryphoenix]

Your professor's stance sounds like reactionary nonsense from someone who's afraid of some vague, intangible possibility of a threat stemming from a basic failure to understand how things work and/or what they mean.

I'm guessing he doesn't even use discount cards from grocery stores, since those keep tabs on him, too. My Diet Coke is cheaper than his, I bet!

Concern for privacy is very real online, of course, but as a quote says that I hear in a thousand forms attributed to a thousand different people, vices miss what's right either because they're deficient or excessive, while virtue finds the medium therein.

[fieryphoenix]

That sure was a long-winded way of saying I agree with you. D:

[dandon_trj]

LJ needs a like button.

At some point, I plan on teasing out more of his reasoning behind this position. It's way too conspiratorial for my tastes.