What is your opinion of companies like Google that gather
information about your browsing patterns? What advantages and
drawbacks does this pose for consumers?
If you were a business owner, what kinds of information would you
gather on your customers and how would you use it?
I do not believe companies like Google should be able to track
everything people do on their sites. I understand users must first agree to
their terms of service, but I believe these companies also make it extremely
difficult to know exactly what they are doing with your data and may do
things with said data without consumers even knowing. “One significant
privacy concern is that Google’s algorithms can track a user’s online activity
across multiple devices and platforms, such as mobile devices, desktops, and
laptops. This tracking allows Google to create a detailed profile of a user’s
preferences, interests, and behaviors” (Cotw, 2023). Google can then use
this data to create targeted ads for specific individuals. This can be
advantageous to consumers because their ads will more closely fit and
target their preferences which enables consumers to shop with an ease that
was not possible before data tracking. Consumers no longer have to search
for something, companies like Google bring the information to them.
A massive disadvantage of this is the severe privacy breach. “Google’s
tracking and data collection practices do not just stop at online activity. The
company has access to a user’s physical location, which it can track through
the user’s device’s GPS or IP address. This tracking can be done without a
user’s knowledge or consent, which can be concerning for those who value
their privacy” (Cowt, 2023). For example, recently in California, “Google will
pay $62 million to numerous nonprofits on behalf of people who say the
company violated their constitutional and common law privacy rights by
tracking and storing their location data without their consent” (Hanson,
2024). As previously stated, although you can choose for companies like
Google to not track your location, these companies make it extremely hard
to verify it.
Google does not harvest consumer data for free, but rather, it sells
marketing to the actual companies from which consumers buy products or
services. These companies pay companies like Google to advertise their
products and services to the correct target market, making the consumer the
product. So as a business owner, I would ensure the company I use to
harvest consumer data is doing it in an ethical law-abiding way. With the
evolution of online advertising, data tracking is almost essential to be
successful. If the consumer does not find you, they certainly will find
someone else. I would be ok will data tracking if the consumers knew the full
risks associated with data tracking and it was made abundantly clear.
Consumers must know the whole truth. Then, I believe it is acceptable to use
their data to best target their interests in the form of advertising.
References:
Hanson, N. (2024, April 18). Google to pay $62 million for tracking users
without consent.
Courthouse News Service. https://www.courthousenews.com/google-to-
pay-62-million-for-tracking-users-without-consent/
Cotw. (2023, March 26). The Dark Side of Google: A closer look at privacy
concerns.
Campaigns of the World. https://campaignsoftheworld.com/news/the-
dark-side-of-google/
