Online privacy and tracking are topics we have addressed before. In response, Google and Apple, among others, have been working to restrict the use of cookies. In reality, this may result in limited gains in our privacy. We examine will removing cookies REALLY help privacy?
Here are two excellent related articles from 2021:
Unfortunately NO: Will Removing Cookies REALLY Help Privacy?
Even without cookies to track our online activity, we must still remain vigilant. Remember, to keep tracking us, companies are devising alternative ways to get information from us.
For example, consider the recent Wall Street Journal article by Suzanne Vranica. A few highlights appear below:
New privacy protections put in place by tech giants and governments threaten the flow of user data that companies rely on to target consumers with online ads.
As a result, companies are taking matters into their own hands. Across nearly every sector, from brewers to fast-food chains to makers of consumer products, marketers are rushing to collect their own information on consumers, seeking to build millions of detailed customer profiles.
Until now, most advertisers depended heavily on data from business partners, including tech giants and ad-technology firms, to determine how to focus their ads. But all of the traditional tactics are under assault.
Brands deploy an array of tactics to persuade users to surrender data to the brand itself. Including loyalty programs, sweepstakes, newsletters, quizzes, polls, and QR codes — those pixelated black-and-white squares that have become ubiquitous during the pandemic.
To read more, click the image below.
