The end of privacy as we know it…
Facebook Privacy Settings (Photo credit: UofSLibrary)
This week, BBC reported on what could very well spell the end of online privacy, Phorm Global ISP Data Collection software in:
Phorm: Your questions answered
Companies want to track you. They want to know everything about you so that they can sell you products better. The more effectively they can target you and appeal to you through their advertisements, offers and other promotional efforts, the more revenue they can generate from sales to you (and possibly also people you know), and the more money they can save in operating expenses per sale they make. This is no secret. Those who sell products/services have been employing market targeting techniques (with varying levels of success) since at least the Middle Ages.
BC$ = Behavior, Content, Money
The goal of the BC$ project is to raise awareness and make changes with respect to the three pillars of information freedom - Behavior (pursuit of interests and passions), Content (sharing/exchanging ideas in various formats), Money (fairness and accessibility) - bringing to light the fact that:
1. We regularly hand over our browser histories, search histories and daily online activities to companies that want our money, or, to benefit from our use of their services with lucrative ad deals or sales of personal information.
2. We create and/or consume interesting content on their services, but we aren't adequately rewarded for our creative efforts or loyalty.
3. We pay money to be connected online (and possibly also over mobile), yet we lose both time and money by allowing companies to market to us with unsolicited advertisements, irrelevant product offers and unfairly structured service pricing plans.