Advertising firms bristle at the notion that your credit card issuer could jack up interest rates based on a tweet in which you announce that you just got laid off. But privacy experts say that this scenario may become a reality in coming years (see "").
As a result of online tracking, connections between your offline and online worlds can be made through an e-mail address kept on record by a company that you do business with. That e-mail address could create a link to a composite profile made up of your online activities at social networks and other sites. By cross-referencing that e-mail address, advertisers can show you banner ads tailored to your spending habits, to your health problems, and to your political views expressed on Twitter.
The rise of online tracking and data harvesting has created cunningly effective advertising campaigns customized to a Web surfer's household income, interests, and online activity. The Center for Digital Democracy's Jeffrey Chester tells me he believes that this type of advertising fosters predatory ads. Examples might include dubious health cures or high-interest loans for HDTVs.
The examples above clearly show that online tracking, unlike other forms of online advertising, can be used to identify people surfing online. Patrick says sites "don't store any personally identifiable information." He misses the point. Individual sites (that you haven't registered with) don't store personal identifiable information, but online advertisers that track you do. Sometimes they may have your name. Other times they may know every single thing about you (down to your household income, address, political slant, sports you like, and etc) but just not your name. What's the difference? Lastly, for the determined, such as a government, scammer, or advertiser, it's easy to extrapolate a name from the anonymous data collected online. It's been done .
3. Mythbusting the "Who cares about tracking" argument: The other side of the argument, as Patrick describes, says that prohibiting advertisers from tracking us online would cause the amount of free content (news, games, services, Web apps) to dry up.