The CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Twitter are having open conversations around completely banning surveillance advertising — the tracking of an individual to collect data such as their search history, purchase history, relationships, and other real life and online behaviors, and using it to generate specific advertisements tailored to that individual. I understand the reasoning behind wanting to ban this practice and calling it harmful to society. I see how it could be considered an invasion of user privacy, further perpetuate racial and other forms of bias, fuel violence and crime, and create an uneven playing field in the competitive market. However, what are the benefits to using surveillance advertising? What are the risks to banning surveillance advertising altogether? Why should we, as a society and as a country, want to keep it around?
Surveillance advertising really can make our online experiences more enjoyable, customized, and efficient. Say I’m looking for dog food, and don’t have the time or the knowledge of what’s out there to find the proper option. By simply texting about it to a friend, or liking a post about it on social media, I could quickly receive numerous targeted ads tailored to my need. I wouldn’t really have to look any further. Personalization significantly improves user experience, and some genuinely enjoy being fed advertisements specifically for them. It also helps companies gain a better understanding of their demographics, and that in turn could help the economy grow.
In addition to surveillance advertising being an asset to buyers and sellers in the market, there is also a potential risk if we take this step to eliminate yet another form of surveillance using AI. Companies like Amazon and Microsoft already pulled out of the facial recognition space, due to indirect bias in their training data and machine learning algorithms. It was a move that many saw as beneficial to our society and a step in the right direction towards curating a culture of transparency and fairness. However, if Big Tech in America keeps limiting itself by staying clear of advanced technologies like this, we will be left behind. Other countries, like China, are doing the opposite. China is heavily bulking up on facial recognition and other ways of using AI to monitor individuals. If we don’t continue research and practice on such technologies, we will have gaps in our knowledge and will not have the necessary resources to combat negative uses of them. These other countries are only going to continue becoming more progressive on the matter, and one day they may be able to use their advantage against us in a way that we won’t be prepared for, because we chose to avoid it.
An alternative to completely banning surveillance advertising could be to keep doing it on consenting individuals, and use that data for research purposes only. This would help us to continue learning about the ways AI is being used in other markets, so that we can stay relevant and keep up with our biggest competitors.
https://www.wired.com/story/ban-surveillance-advertising-coalition-launches/
I really enjoyed reading your blog and perspective on data being utilized to target ads to users. While I do recognize how surveillance ads may can be helpful and geared to be personal per user, I believe apart of it may be more harmful than good. When companies begin to consistently advertise more and more ads, more of our data is being collected. Users are unaware of what it means to accept cookies and are giving their data to companies seeking their capital. There are also several ethical issues that come with surveillance advertising. In the 2016 election, Trump’s party was called out for advertising towards Black voters. They were accused of trying to sway Black voters to either stay home on election day or to vote for the Trump administration by focusing on the topic of race and how their opponent was not for the Black community. Along with that, surveillance advertising shows us that are browsing history is never quite private anymore. Everything we search is now recorded and used as a way to be cater to our liking. Personally, I have had moments where I’ve liked this feature and other moments where I didn’t appreciate it. In regard to China and the US having to advance itself to meet their technological standards, we can certainly be just as intelligent with our IT but more ethical.
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