who does think you are?

Who does Think you are?

And should you care?

What happens?

Each time you open a browser and go to a site, or use an App, data from your visit is sent to and collected by any number of Advertising companies. 10 is a reasonable guess (for each site you visit).

Companies can log your visit, place ads tailored for your eyes specifically, and add to the ever-growing online file about you.

Google Dashboard

• https://www.google.com/dashboard/“Designed to offer you transparency and

control of your personal information”(NOT so much)

+ Consolidates certain settings for all Google products

- Can’t manage Ad preferences (tracking) from it

"The best minds of this generation are thinking about how to make people click ads,"

“Right now, a huge chunk of what you've ever looked at on the Internet is sitting in databases all across the world. “

“The line separating all that it might say about you, good or bad, is as thin as the letters of your name.”

“The Week” April 13, 2012

Web Advertising

It isn’t just Google who collects and sells information– Facebook– Yahoo– YouTube– Phone, iPad, tablet apps– Most commercial web sites through Ad partners

Your Ad is served…..relevant or creepy?Not Signed in Signed in

Ads based on search terms Ads based on search terms

Ads based on recent searches Ads based on recent searches

Ads based on location Ads based on location

Ads based on your assumed demographic Ads based on what you have clicked on

your assumed demographic – and/or -

Preferences you have set

Contents of your emails in Gmail

The applications you have downloaded

Contents of your Google Docs

Contents of your Maps

Youtube

Google + social and contents of chat

How do they do it?

• Cookies in Browsers (if you use different browsers, you must set privacy settings in each), also must be set on each device.

• Apps use location and other data on your phone/iPad it has access to. (read fine print before downloading apps)

“Google faces new privacy probes”3/16/12

• As part of the Street View project, as Google was collecting photographs on every street, it was also gathering information about local wireless networks to improve location-based searches.

• But the Google engineer wrote a program for the project that went beyond what was originally envisioned. Using this program, Google collected all personal unencrypted data sent by computers.

See who Google thinks you are

Ad privacy preferences

Or Google “ad preference manager”

Ads Preferences Manager

• Must be done for each browser (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer) on each computer you use! – opt out in two places.

Link to ad prefs.

Why this ad?Works in Chrome & Safari, not Firefox. -Block advertisers of unwanted ads

Who’s got a cookie?Opt-out of behavioral advertising

See what companies have placed cookies on your computer to collect information & place ads

www.aboutads.info/choices

http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp

(only keeps them from placing “targeted” ads, not from placing other ads, or collecting information from your visit)

“Permanent” opt out cookie (Chrome)https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hhnjdplhmcnkiecampfdgfjilccfpfoe?hl=en

Other Privacy Tools

• Google privacy toolshttps://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/tools

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