Blown To Bits

A Positive Development on Surveillance of Consumers

Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Harry Lewis
If buy lasix without prescription a pediatrician recommends giving a child a soap suds enema, order cephalexin on internet they will provide instructions on how to do so safely. estrace online stores If a person has any concerns or experiences unusual symptoms drops malaysia after an enema, it is important to contact a healthcare buy cheap robaxin online professional for guidance and appropriate care. They also answered several purchase discount celebrex sale questions about their health, obstetric and gynecological history, and certain buy cialis overnight delivery gastrointestinal symptoms. "Scientists are coming to recognize that microbiomes play glucophage prescription important roles in health; vaginal microbiomes are important to neonatal cheapest amoxicillin health, and likewise gut microbiomes impact adult health. Sometimes, people buy bentyl without prescription will refer to the symptoms in the menopause and the cialis purchase perimenopause time frame as menopause symptoms. Researchers acknowledge the possibility order cheapest atrovent dose of sample bias due to factors like conducting their survey aldactone india in an urban area and most participants having higher education. online low price "To find such within analyzing the gut microbiome, perhaps treatment discount amoxicillin of menopausal symptoms might reflect the need for supplementation of that.

Verizon and AT&T have announced that they will not track their customers’ Internet wanderings without their explicit request. The key is that the default is no tracking; only if the customer affirmatively “opts in” to tracking will it occur.

ISPs were getting some heat from Congress because of privacy concerns, so the move by these ISPs surely is enlightenment prompted by anticipation of a mandate. Nonetheless, it’s not a small matter. The data on what we do on the Internet is an extremely valuable commodity, and these companies might have put up a stronger fight for their right to collect it. Comcast, will you please adopt the same posture?

The Washington Post story on this makes several important points. The opt-in provision is likely to result in a very low level of participation in tracking, unless customers who are being tracked have a perceptibly better experience than those who do not. Still, with millions of users, a lot of data can be collected even if participation is low in percentage terms.

Nothing in the announcement by these service providers limits what individual web services can do to collect data about you by storing cookies on your computer. That mechanism aids the targeting of advertising toward your particular interests. And while informed consent and education about privacy should be major goals for the industry, it is worth remembering that the explosion of the Internet as a service to noncommercial users is largely funded by advertising revenue. Though one should always be skeptical about sky-is-falling statements by trade group representatives, there is some truth to this claim:

“If Congress required ‘opt in’ today, Congress would be back in tomorrow writing an Internet bailout bill,” said Mike Zaneis, vice president of public policy for the¬†Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade group. “Every advertising platform and business model would be put at risk.”

One Response to “A Positive Development on Surveillance of Consumers”

  1. Opt in/Opt out? Consumers Benefit from Surveillance Backlash « THE IDEAS LAB Says:

    […] some say it has the potential to radically affect industry-wide online advertising practices. Experts suggest that forcing users to “opt in” could undermine the Internet economy because […]