Week 3 EOC: Internet Privacy VS Market Reasearch

Internet Privacy Is a huge concern to people in today’s world. We often find ourselves falling victim due to companies conducting market research. Many people today participate in and or posses an online profile, little do they know they are giving away all their personal information through what they thought was a free service. Companies sell this information to marketing companies and use it for profitable purposes. “Google, MSN Search, Yahoo!, AOL, and most other search engines collect and store explicit records of user queries. They are, in effect, using the free services they provide as market research wrappers, and as a result, are ever more successful at targeting advertising. It is a clever, efficient, and modern method of advertising. But the scale and precision of this sort of market research causes concern for online privacy advocates and should, probably, cause concern for all users of the services.” http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/2690245.html . As it is, companies do not have very strict privacy regulations. Users give out there personal info much too easily without refrain. For the uneducated though there is hope that soon new laws and policies will take effect to protect all of us. As stated by Marketresearch.com “Consumers are willing to provide personal information liberally online because the value exchange is poorly defined and opaque. In the face of increasingly complex user-centric applications, improved clarity of the consumer value exchange will require that companies adopt new privacy-enhancing practices.” http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/773024.html . Facebook one of the most widely used social networking sites is a prime example of lacking internet privacy. Facebook uses tactile strategies to take what you thought was your private information through simple apps and games. “Ten popular Facebook applications, including Farmville, Frontierville and Texas HoldEm Poker, have been transmitting players names, friends, interests and other data to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.” http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/10/20/5080731.htm . Its just plain wrong these companies sell personal information to make a profit.