The marketers that follow you around the web are getting nosier.
Currently, many companies track where users go on the Web—often through cookies—in order to display customized ads. That’s why if you look at a pair of shoes on one site, ads for those shoes may follow you around the Web.
But online marketers are increasingly seeking to track users offline, as well, by collecting data about people’s offline habits—such as recent purchases, where you live, how many kids you have, and what kind of car you drive.
Here’s how it works, according to some revealing marketing literature we came across from digital marketing firm LiveRamp:
- A retailer—let’s call it The Pricey Store—collects the e-mail addresses of its high-spending customers. (Ever wonder why stores keep bugging you for your email at the checkout counter these days?)
- The Pricey Store brings the list to LiveRamp, which locates the customers online when the customers use their email address to log into a website that has a relationship with LiveRamp. (The identity of these websites is a closely guarded secret.) The website that has a relationship with LiveRamp then allows LiveRamp to “tag” the customers’ computer with a tracker.
- When those high-spending customers arrive at PriceyStore.com, they see a version of the site customized to “show more expensive offerings to them.” (Yes, the marketing documents really say that.)
Tracking people using their real names—often called “onboarding”—is a hot trend in Silicon Valley. In 2012, ProPublica documented how political campaigns usedonboarding to bombard voters with ads based on their party affiliation and donor history. Since then, Twitter and Facebook have both started offering onboarding servicesallowing advertisers to find their customers online.
“The marriage of online and offline is the ad targeting of the last 10 years on steroids,” said Scott Howe, chief executive of broker firm Acxiom at a conference earlier this year.
Last month, Acxiom—one of the country’s largest data brokers, which claims to have 3,000 data points on nearly every U.S. consumer—agreed to pay $310 million topurchase onboarding specialist LiveRamp. Acxiom and LiveRamp declined to comment for this article, citing the need to remain quiet until the acquisition is complete.
Companies that match users online and offline identities generally emphasize that the data is still anonymous because users’ actual names aren’t included in the cookie.
But critics worry about the implications of allowing data brokers to profile every person who is connected to the Internet. In May, the Federal Trade Commission issued a reportthat found that data brokers collected information on sensitive categories such as whether an individual is pregnant, has a “diabetes interest,” is interested in a “Bible Lifestyle” or is “likely to seek a [credit-card] chargeback.”
Previously, data brokers primarily sold this data to marketers who sent direct mail—aka “junk mail”—to your home. Now, they have found a new market: online marketing that can be targeted as precisely as junk mail.
“Will these classifications mean that some consumers will only be shown advertisements for subprime loans while others will see ads for credit cards?” Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said at a press conference. “Will some be routinely shunted to inferior customer service?”
The FTC has called for Congress to pass legislation requiring data brokers to allow consumers to access their information and to opt out of targeted marketing. Currently, many data brokers don’t offer people either one.
The Direct Marketing Association, which represents the data broker industry, doesn’t offer a specific opt-out for onboarding. It does offer a global opt-out from all of its members’ direct mail databases, but it only requires members to remove people’s data for three years after they opt-out.
Some companies offer their own opt-outs. Twitter allows users to opt out of onboarding by unchecking the “promoted content” button in their account settings. LiveRamp offers a so-called ” permanent opt-out” for users who do not want to be targeted via their e-mail address.
Facebook does not offer a specific opt-out for onboarding. Instead, it suggests users opt out of the data brokers themselves. A Facebook spokesman says that users who don’t like specific targeted ads can avoid seeing them again by clicking an ‘x’ on the top right corner of the ad and following the links to the advertisers’ opt-out page.
–Julia Angwin, ProPublica
Want to know more about the market for your data? Read ProPublica’s guide to “Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You”and learn how you can opt-out from data brokers.
Genie says
Makes you want to use cash and toss the computer.
Anonymous says
Facebook is one the most egregious offenders. You personal information is not safe and they track you.
Charlie Ericksen, Jr says
Just wait until the stores install facial recognition cameras at the entrance way, and then put your name up on a board, welcoming you and that you are in house, and what your most commonly purchased items are..
Casinos already have this in place for security…
Rick says
Mr. Erickson,
Really? Casinos actually have this now? Damn. That’s frightening not to mention a bit invasive, wouldn’t you say?
Disgusted says
Casinos aren’t the only place facial recognition cameras are installed. As for me, I’m ready to move to Antarctica. :-/
Grumpy Old Young Man says
This is what we get for creating advanced technology. I’m ready for the OLD ways !!
Sherry Epley says
I encourage each and every one of you to read/reread Orwell’s 1984. . . Big Brother is here! Do everything you can to protect your privacy. Support the ACLU, opt out of everything you can and be aware that businesses pay huge amounts of money for every bit of information about you. Social Media. . . Facebook and the like are entryways into the most intimate aspects of your life. This is no conspiracy theory. . . this is fact!
Some will say that only criminals need to fear and I’m no criminal. OK, how about being charged for higher insurance premiums or not being selected for a job because of the amount of alcohol or type of medication you buy? There are subtle ways your personal data can be used to ruin your life without you even realizing it. . . YOU are the only one who can protect yourself. Do the research. . . and live privately and smartly!
Eleanor Grant says
Here’s a creepy thing: When I go grocery shopping, I get cash from the ATM at my bank, and spend it just a few minutes later at the grocery store. I purposely do this so that my preferences cannot be tracked. But lately I have noticed that the grocery store where I shop has been sending me coupons for things I frequently buy like certain fruits and vegetables.
I do not have a phone that is internet connected. I refuse to give out my email or address to cashiers. HOW ARE THEY DOING THIS?