Do you ever search for something online that is private? Do you ever search for something that you would like to keep a secret? Well, the Internet is not a private place.
Companies are actually paid to track your search history.
Large companies, such as Facebook, will share your most private information and search history for a profit and you give it away for free.
On average, for every 100 websites you visit there are 125 individual companies that track each of those visits.
One of these companies is DoubleClick, a company owned by Google, which specializes in ad delivery, analytics, and building user profiles.
Another company that tracks you is Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect allows you to log into websites through your Facebook profile so you don’t have to create an account for every new website.
The main benefit of this is that it is simple and saves time.
The trouble is when you log in with Facebook Connect, it doesn’t just give the website your account name, but all of your “basic info,” this includes: age, gender, current location, hometown, email address, interests, and all pages you’ve liked.
“I think what these companies are doing is immoral and unjust,” said freshman Will Bartholomew.
A new video game made by Ubisoft called “Watch Dogs” that is yet to hit the markets is linking up with Facebook.
This game will, with your permission, use your Facebook account to set up your “pawns” which are your closest friends that can be used against you, your “obsessions” which are the people you “stalk” the most, and even your “scapegoats” which are people that you rarely interact with and could willingly sacrifice if necessary.
This game will even find the places you hang out at the most, where you post the most, and it will even take a few guesses at password established from the information it finds on Facebook.
Even if you think this is a disturbance of privacy and disturbing in general, keep in mind that it is all derived from information you offered to Facebook of your own freewill.
It isn’t only this game that uses your information from social networks, but ads do as well.
Have you ever clicked on an ad fora phone you wanted, then were sent to an entirely different website and the same ad was there?
Well, companies track not only your search history but every link you have clicked as well. With all of these companies that pry into your online life, there are those that are creating programs to defend you from this online threat.
Even if this is something that you don’t want to think about, it’s real.
Don’t be afraid to search the Internet, just be careful when you click that link for the headphones you always wanted, or post that picture of the amazing sushi dish you’re about to eat at your favorite restaurant to Facebook.