Marketing

The Internet can be useful to businesses for marketing purposes.  Through the Internet, businesses can sell and communicate with customers.  The Internet also allows businesses to identify and learn about their customer base. 

Additionally, many customers expect that a company they interact with in the physical world will also have an online presence.  What consumers may not be aware of is how all of these purposes interact.  When a business meets your need of having a website with store hours and directions, it may also meets its need of determining how many customers may want to go to a particular store branch.

Web bugs. Many websites use Web bugs to track who is viewing their pages.  A Web bug (also known as a tracking bug, pixel tag, Web beacon, or clear gif) is a graphic in a website or a graphic-enabled e-mail message.  The Web bug can confirm when the message or page is viewed and record the IP address of the viewer.

An example you might be familiar with is an electronic greeting card.  Hallmark and other companies allow you to request that you be notified when the recipient views your card.  The sites likely employ Web bugs to tell them when the recipient viewed the card.

Unfortunately, users have little control over the data collection by Web bugs on most sites. Furthermore, Web bugs placed by third-parties are not governed by a website's privacy policy.

Online Privacy Tip: You can defeat e-mail Web bugs by reading your e-mail while offline, an option on most e-mail programs.  Some e-mail systems avoid Web bugs by blocking images that have URLs embedded in them.  You might have seen the message “To protect your privacy, portions of this e-mail have not been downloaded.”  This message refers to Web bugs.  You can choose to allow these images to be downloaded, but they likely contain Web bugs.

Direct marketing.  Consumers may notice that online newspapers and other businesses have boxes asking you if the site can save your account information for future transactions.  Whether it asks you for permission to save your information or not, you can bet that your information is being stored and used by the marketing department. 

Websites have increased their use of direct marketing.  Direct marketing is a sales pitch targeted to a person based on prior consumer choices.   For example, Amazon may recommend books that are similar to others you have purchased.

Use of your information for marketing is not limited to companies you do business with.  Many companies sell or share your information to others.  If you sign up for a free magazine subscription, the company may share your information with affiliates.  This is similar to what happens with traditional junk mail, but since you have entered the information yourself into an electronic system, sharing with other businesses can be done rapidly and cheaply. 

To avoid spam laws, most sites ask your permission to send you future information and offers.  However, this permission is often presumed and the permission box already checked.  To avoid the use of your information this way, always uncheck boxes that state that you agree to receive periodic offers and information.

Behavioral marketing or targeting refers to the practice of collecting and compiling a record of individuals' online activities, interests, preferences, and/or communications over time. Companies engaged in behavioral targeting routinely monitor individuals, the searches they make, the pages they visit, the content they view, their interactions on social networking sites, and the products and services they purchase.  Further, when consumers are using mobile devices, even their physical location may be tracked. This data may be compiled, analyzed, and combined with information from offline sources to create even more detailed profiles.

Marketers can then use this information to serve advertisements to a consumer based on his or her behavioral record. Ads may be displayed based upon an individual's web-browsing behavior, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made. Advertisers believe that this may help them deliver their online advertisements to the users who are most likely to be influenced by them.  

Behavioral information can be used on its own or in conjunction with other forms of targeting based on factors like geography or demographics. Marketers have developed an array of sophisticated data collection and profiling tools which monitor and analyze our online activity.  Over 1300 tracking companies utilize more than 2800 tracking scripts to deliver advertising that is targeted consumers' online activity.

Typically, behavioral targeting is accomplished through use of a cookie, flash cookie, device fingerprinting, or other technologies that identify a user or device. Whatever the technology used, it attempts to personalize ads based upon the user's online history and possibly other external data.

Behavioral marketing is much more sophisticated than so-called “contextual marketing” by which marketers target users with ads that are served based solely upon on a given web page's content.  In February 2009, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report, “Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising.” The report examined behavioral marketing and proposed principles to govern industry self-regulatory efforts.

In March 2012, the FTC issued a report setting forth best practices for businesses to protect the privacy of American consumers and give them greater control over the collection and use of their personal data. In the report, the FTC also recommended that Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, data security and breach notification legislation, and data broker legislation.

The March 2012 FTC report calls on companies handling consumer data to implement recommendations for protecting privacy, including:

•  Privacy by Design - companies should build in consumers' privacy protections at every stage in developing their products. These include reasonable security for consumer data, limited collection and retention of such data, and reasonable procedures to promote data accuracy
• Simplified Choice for Businesses and Consumers - companies should give consumers the option to decide what information is shared about them, and with whom. This should include a Do-Not-Track mechanism that would provide a simple, easy way for consumers to control the tracking of their online activities
•  Greater Transparency - companies should disclose details about their collection and use of consumers' information, and provide consumers access to the data collected about them.

When you are online, you provide information to others at almost every step of the way.  Fortunately, Often this information is like a puzzle that needs to be combined together to make sense before your picture is revealed. So, get to know these potentially dangerous activities and avoid the leaking of personal information as best as you can is very important. 

Signing up for Internet service
If you use a computer to access the Internet and pay for the service yourself, you signed up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your ISP provides the mechanism for connecting to the Internet.
Each computer connected to the Internet, including yours, has a unique address, known as an IP address (Internet Protocol address). It takes the form of four sets of numbers separated by dots, for example: 123.45.67.890. It’s that number that actually allows you to send and receive information over the Internet. 
Depending upon your type of service, your IP address may be "dynamic", that is, one that changes periodically, or "static", one that is permanently assigned to you for as long as you maintain your service.
Your IP address by itself doesn’t provide personally identifiable information. However, because your ISP knows your IP address, it is a possible weak link when it comes to protecting your privacy.

Browsing the Internet
 Although it may not seem like you are giving very much information, when you browse the Internet you are relaying personal information to websites.  Your browser provides your IP address to the site operators.  As you move from site to site online, numerous companies utilize sophisticated methods to track and identify you, mostly for commercial purpose. 
Almost all browsers give you some control over how much information is kept and stored. Generally, you can change the settings to restrict cookies and enhance your privacy. Most major browsers now offer a "Private Browsing" tool to increase your privacy.  However, researchers have found that "Private Browsing" may fail to purge all traces of online  activity.  Many popular browser extensions and plugins undermine the security of "Private Browsing".

Search engines
Most of us navigate the Internet by using search engines. Search engines have and use the ability to track each one of your searches. They can record your IP address, the search terms you used, the time of your search, and other information.  We encourage you to closely review your search engine's privacy policy.
You may also inadvertently reveal information through your search strings.  For example, you might do a search to determine if your Social Security number appears on any websites.  You might enter the search terms " Jane Doe 123-45-6789."   The Google search string might look like this: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=Jane+Roe+123-45-6789&btnG=Googl... Retention of that search string would mean that your search engine has a record of your name and Social Security number.
For more information about search engines & privacy, see: http://www.iproxyever.com/1/post/2014/04/privacy-and-search-engines.html

Cookies
When you visit different websites, many of the sites deposit data about your visit, called "cookies," on your hard drive. Cookies are pieces of information sent by a web server to a user's browser. Cookies may include information such as login or registration identification, user preferences, online "shopping cart" information, and so on. The browser saves the information, and sends it back to the web server whenever the browser returns to the website. The web server may use the cookie to customize the display it sends to the user, or it may keep track of the different pages within the site that the user accesses.
For example, if you use the Internet to complete the registration card for a product, such as a computer or television, you generally provide your name and address, which then may be stored in a cookie.  Legitimate websites use cookies to make special offers to returning users and to track the results of their advertising. These cookies are called first-party cookies.
However, there are some cookies, called third-party cookies, that  communicate data about you to an advertising clearinghouse which in turn shares that data with other online marketers. These third-party cookies include "tracking cookies" which use your online history to deliver other ads. 

Using Mobile Apps
If you use a smartphone or other mobile device to access the Internet, chances are that you may be using mobile applications (apps) rather than an Internet browser for many online activities. An app is a program you can download and access directly using your mobile device.There are hundreds of thousands of apps available, including numerous free or low-priced choices.  Unfortunately, apps can collect all sorts of data and transmit it to the app-maker and/or third-party advertisers. This data may then be shared or sold.  
When you install an app, you are allowing it to access certain data on your phone.  What data does it collect, how does it store your data, and where is your data going? These are the questions you should be asking. You may be able to find the answers in the app’s privacy policy. However, many mobile apps do not have privacy policies, and when they do, they are often dense with legalese, lengthy, and difficult to read on devices with smaller screens.
Some of the data points that an app may access from your smartphone or mobile device include:

• your phone and email contacts
• call logs
• internet data
• calendar data
• data about the device’s location
• the device’s unique IDs
• information about how you use the app itself

Using e-mail
When you correspond through e-mail you are no doubt aware that you are giving information to the recipient. You might also be giving information to any number of people, including your employer, the government, your e-mail provider, and anybody that the recipient passes your message to.  An unencrypted e-mail message can potentially be seen by anyone while in transit.  If sent from an employer-owned device, it could be read by your employer.
If you use a webmail service such as Gmail or Yahoo, your e-mails could be scanned by the webmail provider, both to detect spam and to deliver advertising content. Gmail scans incoming e-mails and places relevant advertisements next to the e-mail.  Yahoo Mail says that it performs "automated content scanning and analyzing of your communications content.” If your recipient uses Gmail, Google will scan your message and provide advertisements to the recipient even if you, the sender, do not use Gmail. Microsoft's webmail service Outlook states that it does not use the content of customers’ emails to target advertising.

Instant messaging (IM)
IM conversations have a feel of casualness about them, which can lead some to let down their guard.  Although seemingly informal, IM conversations can be archived, stored, and recorded on your computer as easily as e-mails.
The rule that "delete does not mean delete" applies to IM conversations as well as e-mail. Virtually all IM programs have the ability to archive and the IM program may automatically turn this feature on. Archiving IM conversations simply means saving the conversation in a text file just like you would any other file, such as a Word document.  Some of these IM programs automatically save your chats unless you select otherwise.
It is important to realize that your conversation can be saved onto a computer even if only one person agrees. When you are talking to a person over IM, they do not need to tell you if they are recording and saving your conversation. If you want to make sure that your Google Talk conversation partner is not saving your chat on their computer you can select the feature called "off the record."

Social networking
Online social networks are websites that allow users to build connections and relationships to other Internet users. Social networking can be used to keep in touch with friends, make new contacts and find people with similar interests and ideas.
Secondary use of information posted to social networks is a major problem. Although you may post a picture or comment online that is intended to be seen only by friends, it can be difficult to control re-use of that information by others. By adjusting the privacy settings on your social networking sites to the highest privacy level, you may be able to limit the amount of information leaked for secondary uses. 
Many people besides friends and acquaintances are interested in the information people post on social networks.  Identity thieves, scam artists, debt collectors, stalkers, and corporations looking for a market advantage are using social networks to gather information about consumers.  Companies that operate social networks are themselves collecting a variety of data about their users, both to personalize the services for the users and to sell to advertisers. 

Blogging
Web logs, or “blogs,” are journals (or newsletters) that are frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Depending on the service you use to post your blog, your private information may be available. Generally blog services will allow you at least some control over how much personal information you make public. Read the service agreement carefully to determine exactly what is required and what will be revealed.
Most blogs also allow comments by readers. Although some allow you to comment anonymously, others require registration and at least an e-mail address. Consider carefully how much information you’re willing to give and if you want your personal information linked to your comments or posts forever.  Most blogs will record your IP address, which may enable them to determine your identity.  In addition, if the blog has placed a cookie on your device, it may be able to associate your post with other comments that you have made.
In addition to information you may be providing through signing up for the blog, the contents of your blog are published for everyone, including employers, to see.  There have been reports of employers firing employees for blogging.  The content does not even necessarily have to be about the employer.