Internet Data Merchant Boasts Possessing Highly Comprehensive Personal Data of Almost All Online Users
In a chilling video, the head honcho of a data collecting empire boasts about his company's ability to sniff out and analyze the daily habits of billions of people like some modern-day Big Brother.
Back in 2019, a data behemoth named Epsilon got gobbled up by the French ad conglomerate Publicis Groupe. More recently, Publicis also snapped up Lotame, another data and ad firm, with plans to merge it with Epsilon's operation. When the deal goes down, Publicis expects to bombard some 91% of the internet's adult web users with personalized ads, according to Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun.
To pull off this staggering level of "personalization," Publicis needs a veritable treasure trove of information on their ad recipients. In a more recent release, Sadoun spills the beans on just how much intel his company collects. The video highlights a software program called CoreAI, which allows Publicis to analyze and predict the activities and tendencies of individual consumers.
To illustrate this, Sadoun introduces "Lola" – a fictional internet denizen who represents the target audience Publicis now has detailed data on. "At a baseline," Sadoun explains, "we know who she is, what she watches, what she reads, and who she lives with. Through the power of connected identity, we also know who she's connected with on social media, what she buys online and offline, where she shops, when she shops, and most importantly, why she shops."
The terrifying part? Lola isn't alone in all this surveillance. As Sadoun proudly proclaims, "Thanks to CoreAI, we can do this with 91% of adults across the globe." That equates to nearly four billion people.
Lena Cohen, a technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, maintains that data firms like Publicis collect as much data as possible on web users. "The data broker industry is shrouded in secrecy, with limited regulation and transparency," Cohen says. "As you witnessed in the video, brokers possess extensive information on billions of people, but we have a paltry understanding of what information they have on us, who they sell it to, and how it's used."
Regulation remains scant in the data broker industry, making it a lawless, unregulated Wild West, Cohen argues. "The United States desperately requires comprehensive federal privacy legislation," Cohen says, pointing out, "However, I'm not holding my breath on seeing such a law pass anytime soon."
Even when state-level privacy regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, are enacted, the laws often struggle to gain traction and are under-enforced. "Most government agencies lack the resources to effectively enforce privacy laws on a large scale," Cohen notes.
Online behavioral advertising, aka ads tailored to your online browsing habits, should be outlawed, Cohen believes. "This kind of data should not be in the hands of advertisers," she says. "Contextual advertising, which relies on the content of a specific webpage, should be more than adequate for companies." A ban on behavioral ads, Cohen asserts, would fundamentally reshape incentives for online actors to constantly spy on and share the data of web users with brokers.
- The future of technology and advertising seems to be remaining under the watchful eye of companies like Publicis Groupe, as they continue to expand their data-collecting empires, such as CoreAI.
- In an increasingly data-driven world, the line between privacy and personalization seems to be blurred, with tech giants like Publicis amassing a vast amount of data on individuals, like knowing their purchasing habits and social media connections.
- The data collection industry, spearheaded by corporations like Publicis, operates in a largely unregulated environment, leading to concerns about the lack of transparency and protection for the public, as highlighted by technologists like Lena Cohen.
- As the debate rages on about the future of data privacy and regulation, advocates like Cohen argue for stricter laws, such as a comprehensive federal privacy legislation, to prevent practices like online behavioral advertising and protect the personal information of billions of internet users.