Every Move You Make

Do search engine companies and providers of recommendation engines, that promise to use the analytics they gather on our click behavior to deliver relevant and targeted content offers and advertising pitches, actually represent a threat to our digital privacy? Well, some would counter the advantages users will reap, from advertising and offers that match their profiles and preferences, far outweigh any privacy concerns. (And research shows users will accept targeted ad schemes.) But others might argue that search engines and recommenders that effectively follow our every move infringe on our right to browse anonymously.

This is precisely what the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group have argued in a formal petition to U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), asking for “injunctive relief” from companies that develop software to track user behavior. (The 50-page PDF is available here

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