Years Later, DoubleClick May Begin Spying On Surfers
from the just-what-people-feared... dept
Five years ago Doubleclick bought Abacus Direct, and freaked out a lot of people when they stated their plans to start linking the information in Abacus' databases with the web surfing habits of people who viewed their ads. After a public outcry, and DoubleClick said they wouldn't combine the two sets of information. However, enough time seems to have passed that they're now floating a trial balloon about the idea of combining the data once again. They claim that people are no longer worried about privacy, so it shouldn't really bother anyone. They compare it to how people used to be afraid of using their credit cards online, but now don't mind so much. Of course, what he doesn't mention is that there is a risk in using your credit card online, but at least it's still your choice.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Marketting speek
" They claim that people are no longer worried about privacy, so it shouldn't really bother anyone."
That's just about on the same level as:
"The majority of people WANT to receive unsolicited commercial offers conveniently in their inbox"
or:
"Most people enjoy receiving a call informing them of a unique opportunity or product!"
I mean COME ON...who the h*ll BELIEVES these people anymore when they talk? I never thought I'd say this, but they are worse then politicians.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]