Image Source
This is a post in response to @allisonmckinney's question, “Do you believe that there is an infringement of one's privacy with ads that are targeted from Google?”
I one-hundred-percent agree that data mining used by Google to provide ads specific to each user is a complete infringement of privacy. Just think about how thirty years ago the idea of targeted advertising through the internet was not even a possibility. And now the search engine recalls everything that I have ever searched to provide information on more and more things that they think I would be interested in buying. A lot of the time when I search for something on Google, the first three options that come up are advertisements, not even real informative websites. The fact that a single company can see my every thought, question, and search is a little bit discomforting. At times I am often quite surprised at the lack of rules and regulations on data mining and the use of people's personal information to a firm's benefit. Not only is Google's use of consumer data violating individual user privacy, but it can also be downright annoying at times. Last month I had been doing some online shopping for my boyfriend's birthday present. I was wanting to buy a cowboy hat and had looked at a few websites so far, but not bought everything yet. Because of one search result, I receive ads on all sorts of websites including Quizlet, Facebook, and my email accounts. The flashing images and videos can be rather distracting when I am trying to work and when my boyfriend looked at my computer screen he has a clue into the gift I was getting for him. Sometimes ads come from weirdly specific companies that I searched for a very long time ago, and I think that after having all of that information shoved down our throats for an extended period of time we become desensitized to the advertisements. We no longer want to buy the products or services because their promotion bothers us.
){kind=link}