I found my current event article on the Wall Street Journal's website, and was titled "Sites Feed Personal Details To New Tracking Industry." The link for the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703977004575393173432219064.html
The article goes on to tell us that some of the United States major websites such as Google.com, MSN.com, Dictionary.com, and several others are installing tracking tools on the computers of people visiting their websites. When we use the internet, we are supposedly accessing "free content" that the websites provide us with, but in return without our consent, tracking devices are installed to our computers by the websites we visit. The tracking tools that are installed come from companies that are in the business to gather data and create consumer profiles that can be sold, and then use that information to target specific advertisements to people online. The ad industry says that tracking does not violate people's privacy because the data being sold is anonymous. Tracking technology has begun to raise concerns, and Congress is even considering on implementing laws to limit and regulate tracking.
In my opinion, I don't see the harm in tracking devices so far. The advertisements that come up when I visit websites are definitely related to my interests, but I never seem to click on them. I don't find them helpful at all, but don't mind if they are there either. Although, I can definitely see why other people would be concerned about tracking files being installed into their computers without their consent. Personally, I'm not too worried or affected by it, so I don't really mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment