we are online all the time with every
click we make thousands of third-party
vendors can analyze the data trail we
leave behind they are able to build
detailed profiles of our lives
enabling advertisers to reach us with
specific messages based on our interests
browsing history location and
demographics yet most consumers have
little awareness that this is happening
how are we being tracked and what is
done with our data consumers are
increasingly creating what we call a
data trail mark sagorsky runs XLE a data
broker firm in downtown Manhattan by
dropping a cookie or other tracking
technology onto a browser firms like
Excel 8 can identify a person by a
number this number is used to track an
individual as they move from website to
website enabling data brokers to build a
rich profile of a consumers online
behavior that is valuable to advertisers
whether it's through a mobile device
through a tablet through a set-top box
or through a PC all those devices are
generating information creating a very
rich profile on a consumer that creates
a super relevant opportunity for
marketers to reach them based on those
interests as well
most people have never heard of data
brokers and like other third-party data
gatherers they do not require the
permission of consumers to gather their
information in America their actions are
largely unregulated recently data
brokers in America have come under
increased scrutiny some of them have
started websites to allow consumers to
check some but not all of the data that
has been collected about them I took a
look at one set up by Blu Kai one of the
biggest data brokers in America to see
what they know about me
so they think they know where I live New
York although I've also been to Texas
recently so they think that I may live
in Texas some reason they have me in
Columbia South Carolina which is not the
case they're able to see my professional
interest based on where I've browse my
hobbies as well I've gone on to
political sites I've checked out resorts
Travel of course they've anticipated
what I might want to buy so they can
tell that I've been looking for air
travel that I'm looking to travel within
the next two months they can tell that
I'm looking to travel economy they can
tell what day of the week I've been
looking for travel but Thursday in the
Sunday they can tell airports that I've
been looking at departing from so
Houston Texas
Athens I've been looking at a vacation
to go there later in the fall here they
are trying to anticipate things I might
be interested in which they could then
sell to marketers so they're able to
come up with a pretty rich mosaic and
sell that data on to marketers who may
be interested in reaching consumers like
me as advertisers learn more about what
consumers are searching for their
location and interests they're able to
target them in more precise ways most of
us have had the experience of searching
for a flight online and being bombarded
with advertisements for travel on other
web sites this is called retargeting a
whole market has developed where firms
are able to buy advertising space within
Millis
goons and by the attention of specific
sorts of users this is called real-time
bidding Jim Caruso is an executive of
varrock media management which uses
algorithms to buy advertising
impressions in near real-time for
advertisers who want to reach consumers
we've started to overlay all different
sources of data so it could be simple
stuff like Geographic data where are you
coming from what state what DMA what zip
code it could be stuff like census data
and then there's also other third-party
data providers so it could be something
like MasterCard or different stuff
that's measuring based on actual
purchase data so it could be driven from
you know you use a loyalty card when you
swipe at a pharmacy then we capture that
data about you and then they basically
take that and match it to figure out who
you are online so when we see you online
we can tell some you know different
behaviors that you have so we're able to
see here who buy certain yogurt brands
and you can target them online who buy
certain soap categories who buy certain
salad dressings who shops at certain
retail stores and you're able to go
after specific users based on that data
yeah yeah so they are not they do an
anonymous match where they say hey based
on your you're using your loyalty card
to your credit card we now know what you
purchased offline we are able to match
that to a cookie or an ID anonymous ID
online and then we're able to target
that cookie in real time technology has
clearly given advertisers greater power
but it also raises questions about our
privacy as consumers most people
worrying about the privacy of their data
but the majority of consumers do not
fully understand how their digital
footprints are being traced Jon
Leibowitz is the former head of the
Federal Trade Commission a bit of
America's government that regulates
consumer privacy so if I go on Amazon or
I go on Netflix it's okay that they
collect information for me while I'm on
their site they might direct me to a
movie I like or a book I want to read
but when you're talking about the sort
of invisible cyber Otzi that put cookies
in your computer
and track you around the internet and
may or may not but may upsell your
information to data brokers and may
combine it with offline information and
may build these incredibly robust
profiles of you it's just not
appropriate unless the consumer gives
his or her consent because that
information is yours the ability that we
have technologically is intense
right there's a lot we can do and
frankly we sometimes know haven't yet
figured out how to manage the
technological with the cultural norms
advertisers like Tony Wiseman who runs a
big digital advertising agency realize
the industry may be treading a fine line
well I might really appreciate a
retargeted message to remind me that I
might be out of shaving blades
it'll probably creep me out if that says
hey Tony you're looking a little
scraggly today I think you need some
blades
we are extremely careful about the creep
factor because one unhappy customer will
tell a thousand one person who feels
that their data has been abused even
when it hasn't been but the perception
is that it's been abused will be very
public about that in the coming years
data gathering and sharing will become
more complex it's time that consumers
got to know their trackers