Marketing versus Privacy – Who Wins?

Marketers want more data, consumers want more convenience, but at what cost?

This was released by Google yesterday.  Google My Activity. The threads of recent advancements in Google tools, such as analytics, re marketing lists, gmail adverts etc has come to a visible host in My Activity. So, I logged in to my business account and went exploring my past and what Google knew about me.  This was the scary bit in the image below.  Not only was the videos I have viewed on You Tube chronologically listed, but lots and lots more data including my trips.  I didn’t even know they were tracking my mobile phone, office computer and my laptop, but they have been.  The really scary bit, is that my overseas trips are in there as well.

Obviously this will all be about getting to know me as a person from Google’s perspective, and, also, better targeting relevant ads and services to assist my in my day to day life, but wow!

I wonder how long before a few agencies tap into this one.  Now, lets think, on a positive note, I can think of tracking undesirable people; police investigations in relation to offences and where were you on that night?; ambulance and emergency services attending to a phone location if you are lost, lots of positives.  But, hey, get your partners login and password and keep an eye on them? What about the ATO tracking where you work at and when?

I had a good suspicion that this was coming, but now, its here, and I am just not real sure what to make of it.  The marketer in me loves it.  It will greatly assist better targeting for clients ads and services, but the consumer in me say, I wonder how I can turn this off.  The papers put it out as being your own personal way of removing dumb things you have said on the internet, how nice, but in reality ?  Hmmmmmmm