Why It’s Unethical
As a constant user of all types social media, especially google, I think it is crazy that big brother is always watching(literally). After using the google analytics tool that is very accessible to users I was in disbelief that it was that easy to collect data. There were numerous statistics on some of the most important things such as age and gender. They also had some more in depth stats on things like mobile users, search terms, behavior and many more. As a user I think it is weird that all this information is so accessible. Many people don’t understand why people and companies track this data. At the end of the day, what the person or company does with the information they are provided with determines whether it was ethical or not.
Using the data Unethically
In the article below they state how companies have been using the data unethically. One of the largest concerns people have is when they are target marketed certain things based on their online activities. The article stated that 79% of people in Australia feel uncomfortable when that occurs. Another major concern for people that companies continue to do is that the store the user data. A total of 83% of people felt uncomfortable with these companies collecting and storing data. This shows that even though so many people have problems with these things, the companies continue to do them. There can be many benefits for the companies when they have this data, but is it worth their credibility?
https://theconversation.com/the-ugly-truth-tech-companies-are-tracking-and-misusing-our-data-and-theres-little-we-can-do-127444
Why it’s Important
Tracking and learning user behavior can be very important for companies to understand how to reach their audiences. Learning certain aspect can determine how they try to reach customers. As a business person this type of data is very exciting to me. I think this way because it shows that their is so much data that is already out in the web that can help you figure out how to make better choices for your company. Understanding how trends work especially when it revolves around your company is very important knowledge to be aware of. If the company is product based it is very important to know if they need to improve anything as well. There are endless ways to look at the data to try to reach the audience in the best way possible. It might not be the most ethical, but this type of data is very important when making business decisions.