Google and Internet Privacy
THE Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it had cleared Google’s proposed merger with DoubleClick, the digital marketing company, saying that the deal was “unlikely to substantially lessen competition” in the Internet advertising realm.
“In the 21st century, concerns about privacy and competition are inextricably linked because information is the digital gold of the Internet,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “Information is the equivalent of what oil and steel and railroads were in the previous century. Today the F.T.C. sanctioned Google to become an even more powerful company in collection and usage of consumers’ data.”
Although the deal stirred up public debate about the extent to which online advertisers should be allowed to track people on the Web, the F.T.C. said it was studying the merger only from an antitrust perspective.
I do not know what affect the Google-DoubleClick merger will have on internet privacy. I do know Google has made a living rolling back the lid of privacy. It is thus safe to assume that this merger will not increase internet privacy.
I’m a strident supporter of Google and have been since the days when they were on a equal playing field with DogPile and AltaVista. The giant Google has become since those early days of the internet does not bother me.
With that said, what worries me is the fact that Google - like many other search engines and purveyors of web-ads - records where I go online. There is no clear answer as to how precise or retrievable this information is since this is a business practice, it’s trademarked. Google keeps track of websites you go to in order to display ads that will be more appealing to you. Since you are supposedly more interested in these ads the probability that you will click on them is higher, meaning Google makes more money.
In principle, this is no different than advertising in everyday life. For example, you can be certain to see beer advertisements at a sporting events because the major demographic that enjoys beer also enjoys sports. Google’s targeted advertising practices, in this sense, are parallel to basic real world marketing tactics. The purpose is not my concern here though - I’m not worried about getting beer ads in my browser.
What is terrifying is the capability to track what you search for and where you go online, by the day, hour, and minute. Here is a screenshot of Google’s Web History:
I turned off my Google Web History, which probably means that I just can’t see it anymore, which is why I am writing this post. Google doesn’t need formalities like a Gmail account to track your web activity, your IP address affords them the same opportunity. Every IP address that uses Google creates a unique history.
The web is fast becoming less anonymous. Just how this will change the face of the internet is yet to be seen.
3 Comments