At the Marcom Asia 2000 seminar in Hong Kong earlier this month,
Robert Fitzgerald of Web Connection Media used the term "electronic
stalking" in reference to certain marketing tactics which are being
deployed on the Internet and related new technology, such as WAP.
Last month, Time magazine featured a cover story about electronic spies
in cyberspace which "mine" data every time you log on - illegally, and
without your consent - and send this information back to people who will
then use it or sell it.
Consumers have long been wary about providing credit card details in
order to shop online due to security fears; now they have something else
to worry about.
Such electronic stalking and spying is far more disturbing by their very
nature: they pretend to exist solely to make your life easier, but their
methods are sinister.
Internet industry pundits have been trumpeting the fact that online,
it's the consumer who makes the rules and forces the marketer to play by
them.
Consumers have the power - or do they? Could it all be just an
illusion?
Think about it: increasingly, sites are demanding that users register
their details before they can proceed beyond a basic level of
information within that site.
It is not always clear why this information is requested, or what the
site owners are going to do with it.
Sure, demographic profiles and so on are vital when it comes to
obtaining advertising support, but you have to wonder if that is where
the buck stops.
Another thing to think about: cookies. You can erase them on your
computer, but haven't you ever wondered if any trace of them remain on
the server, or if the website has 'tagged' you in some other way which
you don't know about?
George Orwell's predictions might have been a bit premature when he
wrote 1984, but the days of Big Brother watching our every move are here
nonetheless.
If you're fine with that, then there's no problem. But if you don't like
the idea that someone out there is keeping tabs on you, then something
needs to be done.
It would surely behoove the Internet industry to address this situation
now, before rising consumer opinion forces the issue.
