Privacy

I have been thinking about internet privacy and its impact on online marketing in the future over the past few days.  As I mentioned in my last post, the push for increased internet privacy seems to be gaining some momentum.  I think everyone knows, and has come to terms to some extent, that their online activity is being analyzed by online marketers.  However, I think its quite possible that sweeping legislation could be established in the next few years that prohibits the tracking of individuals' online behavior.  There are steps already being taken in this direction.  The Right to Know Act (AB 1291) would require a company to give users access to the personal data the company has stored on them—as well as a list of all the other companies with whom that original company has shared the users' personal data—when a user requests it (source).  This law, if and when passed, wouldn't come close to stopping online marketers' efforts in finding the ideal customer for a particular ad, but, it is steps in that direction.

There is  actually a market for online privacy tools that helps to keep its users someone anonymous while on the internet and communicating.  The search engine DuckDuckGo doesn't save search histories and the mobile app TextSecure encrypts text messages over the air and on your phone.  This article, The Anonymous Internet: Privacy Tools Grow in Popularity Following NSA Revelations, talks about these tools and others.  The article also highlights the increase in downloads and usage of these tools since the NSA spying story came out a few weeks back.