Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
 ·Embarq
| reply to MyDogHsFleas
Re: This is like 253rd on the list of things I'm concerned about
said by MyDogHsFleas  :said by Titus Pullo :said by MyDogHsFleas :I mean, so I get a few targeted ads. So what? I really don't get why this is a front-page-news on BroadbandReports.com level issue. Because experience teaches us that this is always how it starts. Privacy for profit first; privacy for nefarious purposes second. Think about the adage "give an inch, take a mile" for a few minutes, and then think about your government for a few minutes afterward. These are two completely different things that you have related together because of conspiracy fever. Businesses want buying and ad-response information about people, so they can be more effective with their advertising spend. That has nothing to do with what the government may or may not want. The government could care less about your market behavior. Well, unless you're suddenly ordering guns online  ...
And you know, turning anything resembling mistrust or being wary into "conspiracy fever" won't fly because enough people have learned how hard others work to turn words that convey simple concepts into a pejorative -- like the word "liberal" for example.
No one is claiming - at least I hope not - that these ISPs are in cahoots w/the Illuminati, only that it's another avenue of ingress for *possible* abuses of privacy, if you're so inclined to believe such abuses exist. I do.
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| said by Titus Pullo :Well, unless you're suddenly ordering guns online ... You raise an excellent point. The Government IS interested in illegal buying activity over the Internet. Illegal weapons, child porn, mail fraud, etc. So I should have said "the government could care less about your LEGAL market behavior".
And sorry if I hit a sore spot with the "conspiracy fever" comment. I'm all about mistrust and being wary. My point is, I just don't think tracking consumer behavior for ad targeting is something that deserves much wariness. |
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD
clubs: | I think it does need some wariness. The definition of what's legal can change in a heartbeat. It may not be illegal to search for Vegetarian Aliens now, but do you want the gov't to know you used to search for them before it was made illegal?
KM |
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