“I always feel like somebody’s watching me.”
This paranoid chorus of an 1980s song by Rockwell sums up the one-hit-wonder’s frustration over unseen eyes stalking his whereabouts.
And that’s how it is when I search the Internet.
But in my case, it’s not paranoia.
Surveillance of my Web browsing patterns starts with “cookies,” which the textbook Media & Culture (Campbell, Martin and Fabos) defines as “information profiles that are automatically collected and transferred between computer servers whenever users access Web sites.” Every time I peruse the Web, my moves are being tracked.
Cookies “can also be used to create marketing profiles of Web users to target them for advertising,” the text says. So each stop I make to consider or buy something online may generate information about my needs and wants that are ripe for companies eager to fulfill them. Such data mining allows businesses to reach potential customers with user-specific advertising.
It’s the reason why I get inquiries about my travel interests after I make hotel reservations. Or I get an email coupon following a search of sales at my neighborhood grocery store. And ever since I researched foreign-language lessons online, I’ve been pelted with promos about nearby schools and studying abroad.
This niche online experience is a part of Web 3.0, or the semantic Web. Our current era of the Internet “places the basic information of the Web into meaningful categories — family, friends, mutual interests, location — and makes significant connections for us,” the textbook says. But in order to enable “computers and people to work in cooperation” creating customized content for users, the Web requires a fair amount of online surveillance.
Frankly, I’m unnerved by all this spying. I’d like to believe that there’s still a measure of privacy in the world despite all the signs that there isn’t. For now, at least, I think I’d be willing to sacrifice a more meaningful Web for the ability to lurk online without being “watched.” But that’s not so easy these days. The need — and usefulness — of personal data trumps my individual desire to hide on the Internet.
So I guess Rockwell was right.
CMSU Reflections 