Let's say that you are writing your journal on Google doc, and keep talking about something that you want to buy. Like a new car. One day you would realize you are seeing so many car advertisements around you. For example... in Google search ads sections. Creepy?
Regardless you are realizing it or not, this is actually happening.
When you are reading your G-mail, please pay attention to the right side ads column. It picks up vocabularies from your e-mails and decides which ads to show.
Someone, or something is actually reading your "personal(what you think)" stuff!!
According to Professor Reed, although there is no specific legal article that can protect information ownership, there are three legal sources of ownership; IP rights, confidentiality and contract.
Long story short, he says that users need to be aware of what they are getting into when they are online. So... read the terms and conditions on the site!!
At the same time, Reed acknowledges that users have little room to negotiate with the service providers. He says that the service providers need to come up with a governance forum. (I wonder if this will ever happen though...) And he also mentions government regulations could help.
In Europe, there already are many moves regarding cloud computing and legal issues. Check this page out: http://www.cloudlegal.ccls.qmul.ac.uk/
Oh, well... it all sounds right, but how can we stop what Google is already doing in its G-realm?!?
Any body has any ideas?
Professor Reed's ideas in slides:
I am reading "Googled" (http://www.amazon.com/Googled-The-End-World-Know/dp/1594202354) for my class book review and it talks a lot about the privacy issue that the company faces. The Google founders are so focused on the technology behind the service that they don't understand why it could be seen as "creepy" by users... definitely something to be aware of!
ReplyDeleteOh i think I should check out that book. My life is so Googled too... Thank you for sharing!! :D
DeleteIt totally creeps me out when I see ads for products I'm interested in all over the web. I recently ordered some glasses from Warby Parker, a site where they mail you 5 pairs to try on at home for free, but I didnt end up purchasing any of them. All of a sudden, ads for the company are EVERYWHERE and I find it a total turnoff. It'd be interesting to study the "creepification" of ads and how it affects sales.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? google always picks up meta from my e-mail... :( This is super creepy. But what can we do? :(
DeleteI strongly support the idea of having governmental regulations...