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Talking to people with different opinions can make for a worthwhile experience and broadens your horizon. That's why I found my recent encounter doubly interesting as my dialog partner not only doesn't care about elaborately detailed customer profiles but considers them advantageous and a give and take situation. Welcome to the world of Thomas*, a civil servant in his mid-forties who takes everything in stride. That doesn't mean he has no clear opinion though.
With Thomas, it is, as he himself says, an open door policy. Unlike me, he never took a closer look at the various Windows settings once he installed the OS with default settings. Likewise, Google has permission to do anything on his Android phone and he always confirms every request. This means smooth sailing. Google Maps knows the locations relevant to him and basically displays a map of his life. All available wizards are enabled and keep him posted on the things he cares about and he simply laughs off any extraneous details. To him, the benefits outweigh the occasional irrelevancies and he already owns an Amazon Echo, naturally.
He likes to talk about fairness. Fair, to him, means he gladly pays with his data for free services. "Online, I can find more information, offers and services than anyone could have imagined 20 years ago. Webcams, traffic forecasts, news of all kinds, daily minutiae, it's all there. How often did I have to pick up the phone to ask for opening hours back in the day? Now, every detail is available online. I have access to current gas prices, products from all over the world as well as cultural and financial news in real time. I welcome and control this steady stream of information in this golden age of computing, so what do I care if companies know my advertising profile? At least, I won't be receiving ads for nonsense products all the time."
Part of your daily routine: current news via Internet
Ad blockers are a last resort for him. "I can understand that people don't want to view ads but it just isn't fair. News, weather and entertainment portals a ll have to bear running costs for the necessary infrastructure, editorial staff etc. Yes, some companies make millions but they also bore the risk of failure in the past and paved the way for many technological innovations we use today. They wouldn't be as successful if fewer people were using them. Without ads, the Internet would either be dead or we would have to pay for many services and who'd want that? I only use ad blockers for pages that go overboard with ads but disable them for everything else."
That must be why he generally likes personalized ads and has only one hang-up. "I find it annoying that they don't know me better. In the past, I received the same ads as everybody else, possibly 5% of which genuinely interested me. The remaining ad spaces were sold to the highest bidder and it made no difference who was viewing them. It rarely happened that an ad caught my interest. Things still aren't perfect today. I'd really like more customization. Once I purchase something, I'm haunted by ads for the same or similar products for weeks. I'd like a button to signal I already bought the product and have no further interest in offers for this product type."
He doesn't wish for more but better quality ads. "I'd really like for them to know me like a regular customer. I've been going to the same clothing store for decades. Not only do they know my size but they also know my taste. Once I utter a wish, I seldom have to try the item on, their customer service is that good. I'd even be willing to state my measurements online because I hate being shown products that are out of stock in my size. Yes, I'd become more predictable as a customer but nobody's forcing me to buy, it's still my decision."
He'd love for his Internet to be like Netflix. "They know exactly what I like and always recommend titles worth watching. Why should I be worried about them knowing I enjoy documentaries? This way, I don't have to plow through multiple categories to find something I like. And what about the ticket store that notifies me when my favorite bands are doing a tour? How many concerts would I have missed otherwise? Do I really want to pick up the newspaper and tediously search through everything? As long as I am in control, I'll enjoy the benefits. I don't want to spend time installing various programs to fight something I don't consider a threat in the first place." And while he voice-dictates all of that into his cell phone, he looks very happy.
I've made a conscious decision not to voice my own opinion this time, I've done that often enough in previous articles. What do you think about his views?
*name changed
Hi Sven,
If giving organisations free reign to his personal data works for your friend, then good for him (and others). For others, especially depending on the Country they reside in & the consumer/privacy protection laws (or lack thereof), it's a different matter.
As an example, here in Australia, we once had very good protection & could trust our Government to treat our data with care. Our current Government has undone much of that. recently, a huge number of Medicare registration details were up for sale on the *Dark Web* for around $30 per ID. This of course leads to identity fraud. Once someone steals your identity, it's almost always impossible to get it back. At best, it can take years.
As for advertising, especially email... As an example: I've been a customer of Ashampoo for about a decade & own pretty much all your software. I disabled notifications on the Apps & my account for everything except updates mainly because constantly getting ad's for products I already own, & often for more than I already pay (Premium-User w/ 60% discount) is a waste of time for me (I get over 100 emails I need to deal with per day). Plus, I currently have about 2,500 Yiggles to spend. :) I check Ashampoo regularly to see if anything of interest is new. I recently got Driver Updater because the product I was using was mediocre at best. It wasn't available in the Yiggles shop, so I just used my 60% discount when that became available. To clarify, this is in no way a complaint! I've run 2 successful businesses & understand the realities.
Another example here: I recently changed my Internet access from ADSL2 to the new NBN. In the years of using ADSL2, my frequency of telemarketing calls to my landline & mobile phones was negligible. Within a week of signing up for the NBN service (which includes a VoIP phone service as normal landline phone services are disabled), the number of telemarketing calls increased dramatically! I get up to 6-8 per day! Signing up for the Government phone privacy database which is supposed to stop these calls did nothing. I've lodged a complaint, but have little hope it will even be heard. *shrug*
My point in all this is that there is never a single solution that will satisfy the needs of people Globally! It's an impossibility. Giving people control over their personal data, and the option of when to allow it to be used or not, is absolutely necessary, especially in those Countries where it would be dangerous to do so. We live in a world mixed with people with honest & dishonest intentions, including small to large Companies & Government's. That has to be taken into account.
If we ever have a World were all people can be trusted, then fine. Until then, people have to be able to control who get's their data and what can be done with it. I give Ashampoo a gold star for allowing me to choose (even if it isn't made easy or obvious in some app's). ;) :D
At the end of the day, I remain an Ashampoo customer because the software does what I want and I like & trust the company. If that changes, I will go elsewhere. :)
Your friend is wrong about the purpose of the Internet. Corporations paid absolutely zero dollars to construct the world wide web. It was paid for by governments using taxpayer dollars for communication with each other to prevent a nuclear war. What the user sees today is about 1% of the real network.
Yes the corporations pay for websites the same as non-profit organizations and individuals. That money is to maintain the back-bone of what people now call the Internet. Individuals and families pay a high price for access to the net and enhanced speed. Statistica have many graphs that show the cost paid by the people in every country.
The massive amount of advertising is an attack by corporations to abuse the Internet. Operating systems such as Win10, Android, Apple are nothing more than scams meant to gather information about people and their daily lives. The fact that some software will not operate unless there is an Internet connection should be enough proof. Anyone using a cell phone only need look at the number of permissions apps require to operate.
There is a great app called Droid Optimizer, available for free without advertising, by Ashampoo for Android. I just ran "1 touch speed up" and it closed 33 apps most running in the background. Next I ran "Clean Up" and it shut down another 21 background apps leaving 12 running. The corporations do not pay for the abusive amount of data they consume nor the daily updates. Everyone of us pays for it and it is time to tell the corporations, we have had enough of their junk, and cry baby stories about losing money.
I wasn't actually complaining about the emails from Ashampoo - just pointing out Ashampoo *do* advertise. As a satisfied user of several Ashampoo programs (I hate the word Apps!) I'm happy to be reminded of what else there is in your locker...
Keith
I see. I’ll leave my comment as information for those who’d like to see fewer ads from us. They’re out there :)
I'm with Thomas.
People get very heated about ads popping up beside their webmail, their weather forecast, their newsfeed or whatever. But what the hell? If you open a newspaper or magazine, the pages are peppered with ads - nobody seems to complain about them.
As Thomas says, without ads the internet would be dead. And ads pay for the free programme content on a number of TV and radio channels. Similarly, without ads, your daily newspaper would cost you a week's salary.
So I look on the ads as a necessary irrelevance, unless something catches my eye, in which case I may end up making a purchase. The purchased product presumably will improve my life, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the item! So the ad has brought me a benefit.
If ads pay for the limitless mine of valuable information on the internet, then that seems to me like a fair exchange.
Surely there's an analogy with newspapers and magazines. They are tending to get expensive - but would cost far more if they didn't carry ads. The difference is that using the web companies can zero in (they think/hope) on a user's interests (cf special interest mags) and certainly hope the ads get a response.
Speaking personally I hardly ever notice ads (electronic or paper) - my mind just filters them out.
And, of course, I get an offer from Ashampoo almost every day in my inbox... what are your thoughts on that?
Anyway, as usual, an article that I found interesting - please keep it up!
Keith
My boss believes people only see programs they haven’t bought yet and has a solution. :)
Joking aside, once you log into your Ashampoo account you will find multiple settings to customize type and number of ads you receive. We have no intention of bugging you, just take a look at the settings and select what you want to see and when.
@ Sven Krumrey: Actually I thought Kevin McDonnell's comment was very tame. Personally I'd have used the "F" word, along with a "C" word and other unprintable/unmentionable words to boot.
I'd love to see his face when it all turns to custard and his credit rating goes seriously negative, his bank accounts are wiped out etc.
Unlikely as I live in the Southern aspect of the rock we call earth. And odds are Thomas is in the northern aspect.
Another thoughtful article. My position remains the same, however. Until the ad agency are willing and able to take accountability for the malware that come down their pipe, I will block them. I pay via Patreon, product purchases or other similar methods for those web sites and services I use. I will not, however, leave myself open to attack.
I sit on both sides of this fence. On the one hand, it is a convenience to not deal with things that I don't want or need, however having the random ads pop up have on occasion exposed me to things I never knew about and didn't know that they would be of use to me. (I will never need a digital solar powered bird feeder, but a new website focused on my hobbies would be of interest.) I only wish that eBay would stop sending me dozens of emails about how I "missed out on this one, but here are a million and a half others you can buy." when all I did was look at the item offered to check out the specs, never intending to bid on it.
So, if you can do something about the videos that auto-start when I open a web page, I would pay well for that software solution. Even the "reading view" setting on Edge and Firefox doesn't help because some pages disable that function and others simply insist on starting up and running before the Reading View option is highlighted to be usable.
Thank you for another thought provoking article.
How does one arrive at a reasonable policy between 'naive' and 'paranoid'?
I have closed all the peep holes in my workplace Windows 10 PC and stopped all the apps. I dislike the idea that my operating system knows, and reports things that I
do not know myself. If it had a camera there would be tape over the lens.
I have moved to Linux for private, personal use.
When it comes to browsing and shopping I am reluctantly prepared to accept the price of convenience and accept the advertising that is forced on me. A way of saying 'No more of these, I've bought one.' would be very welcome.
I don't think we have too much to fear from the commercial organisations, even if there is much to dislike. They are too identifiable. There is no such thing as a 'free lunch'. I have provided some and I got good value.
For my personal web safety, I do not use my (Android) phone for a financial transactions. I only do business these with a keyboard and mouse and a wired network connection behind a firewall.
He is a total d*** and pretty stuuuuupid as well.
Please behave properly. :)
Hello, as far as I am concerned, it sounds like unconsciousness, like walking on a wire suspended with eyes closed. If he is stealing his smartphone or his laptop, he steals his life. And for the protection of his data, if he gets hacked, the pirate will have access to everything he owns. We do not drive a car without a license, even if it offers you plenty of safety accessories.
Thank you for your articles always very interesting.