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Annotated Bibliography

How has targeted marketing affected the privacy of people on the Internet?

Bria Goodwin Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1102 February 16, 2012

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Annotated Bibliography Ward-Barnes, Ava. "The Evolution Of Targeted Advertising And Privacy Protection Online: A Case Study On Facebook's Advertising System." Conference Papers -- National Communication Association (2009): 1. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. This source is a paper written by Ava Ward-Barnes for the National Communication Association. The author takes a clear position against Facebooks advertising system that takes users personal information and reveals it to marketers. The paper first discusses what Facebook was originally designed for. Ward-Barnes states that the social networking site was originally a private way for users to communicate with each other; however, as Facebook grew it became open to everyone and with that privacy issues arose. WardBarnes commented on the fact that Facebooks new advertising system Beacon did not fully ask the permission of the users to take the personal information they put into the website and share it with a third party. Cookies allow marketers to find opinion leaders and find social connections. The author describes how other websites such as Google use their sites to cell information to marketers in order for them to discover their target consumers and are making a profit. The article also discusses how the regulation of these privacy issues cause conflict between marketers and the government. The federal government allows the internet advertising industry to regulate itself. There are guidelines but no laws regulating behavioral advertising. In conclusion, the author states that the government needs to create an agency that solely will gain an understanding of this issue and finding ways to make internet privacy secure again.

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Ava Ward-Barnes is a professor at Georgia State University who has come up with many theses relating to communication and etiquette on the internet. This paper was published for the National Communication Association in 2009. The National Communication Association is an organization that promotes communication scholarships and is a place for educators, practitioners, and students to do research. This is a credible source because the NCA has conference papers that have developed and researched theses on communication, including information on targeted advertising. The intended audience of this paper is anyone that shares their personal information on websites such as Facebook. The content that is covered in the paper has many facts on the topic. However, it also takes a position on the subject and therefore has a few opinionated statements. The information seems to be well-researched and has many appropriate details to support the authors position. This source is going to be useful to me in my research on how targeted marketing affects individuals privacy. This source shapes my argument on how targeted advertising has negative effects on user privacy and how it needs to be more strictly regulated to insure individual security. I plan on using this source in my research project to solidify my argument that this form of advertising has undesirable effects on users of social media. Spring, Tom. "Good-Bye To Privacy?." PC World 28.7 (2010). Web. 22 Feb. 2012. In this article by Tom Spring he discusses how recent changes to Facebook privacy have changed peoples views on the website and ultimately that people have had enough of their privacy being infringed upon. One change he discussed is the Instant Personalization program that allows Facebook partner websites to access personal data and automatically sign up users that visit their website. However, after an uproar from this program, it was changed be an optional way of signing up with other websites. The article mentions how

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the Electronic Privacy Information Center and 14 other consumer groups filed a complaint against Facebook with the Federal Trade Commission. The article states that Google Buzz was also under scrutiny after releasing users most frequent e-mail contacts. The article argues that marketers are unfairly stalking and profiting from peoples personal information that they have collected through these websites. In the closing statement of the article, the author states that perhaps with technology continuously growing, people will become comfortable with the fact that marketers can see what we are doing and that conceivably the age of privacy is over. Tom Spring is a writer for PC World magazine. This is a global computer magazine that has information on computers, the Internet, and other related topics. His writings for the magazines have been referenced in other writings on the Internet and its uses. The targeted audience of this article are people who read the magazine and are interesting in how their information is shared on the internet. This source is also a popular magazine source. The article is over all mostly objective. The author is simply stating what the facts are on the issue of privacy and targeted advertising and what may become of it in the future. Conversely, he does use emotion provoking language such as strangers, stalking, and data harvesting. I believe that this article will be useful to my research on the topic of privacy and how it relates to advertising on the web because it presents an unbiased view on how this marketing strategy is affecting consumers on these types of social networking sites and reinforces my stance on the topic. However, this article has also made me think about the debate in a different way by concluding with the statement that consumers might get used in the process and accept it as a modern reality.

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Lindley, David. "A Matter Of Privacy." Communications Of The ACM 53.12 (2010): 23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. In this academic journal written by David Lindley he discusses the relationship between information privacy and targeted online advertising. He comments on the forum, The Future of Online Privacy where panelists discussed the controversial issue. He considers the dilemma that the more we are on the internet the more the internet knows about us. Therefore, we must figure out how much we want it to know. One of the topics that are discussed was the fact that although peoples information is more easily shared, it has not deterred people from posting their personal information or making online purchases. Lindley states how data regulation will mean more costs for businesses but no real effect on consumers. It was also said that regulation could stifle advancement and there should be voluntary regulation in place. Assistant director at Federal Trade Commission stated that people should be aware of what personal data is being shared and be able to choose what is being distributed. A key statement that was addressed in the forum was that privacy controls should be consumer driven. Hence, the forum concluded that privacy be dealt with by the consumers but also this form of marketing is new and consumers may not know the effects of their choices. David Lindley is a writer for Communications of the ACM, which is a monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery. The article is an academic journal. Lindley has written other works for this journal about the future of technology. This source is credible because it has peer-reviewed resources and much of the information is based on research. The purpose of this publication is to present information to people on the debate of privacy and online advertising and how it should be regulated. It relates to my previous sources

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because it states how consumers should have a say in how this marketing strategy should be regulated since it involves their information. This source is definitely useful to me in my research because it covers a forum that took place with people responsible for the driving force of this topic and how they feel about the issues. Also, this journal gives solutions to the matter and states how the consumers should have more control in the situation. It continues to shape my argument by showing that this marketing strategy is becoming unavoidable and instead of just talking down about it, one should figure out how it can be regulated. Jesdanun, Anick. "Obama Administration Seeks Online Privacy Rules." Google News. The Associated Press, 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. The article discusses how the Obama administration is calling for stronger privacy protection for consumers, which is being called the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights." It urges companies to create new protections, which at first would be voluntary. A quote from President Obama in the article states, "As the Internet evolves, consumer trust is essential for the continued growth of the digital economy." As addressed in the article, data collection can be beneficial to companies by honing in their target consumers and personalizing services. The Federal Trade Commission recommends the formation of a "Do Not Track" tool that lets consumers limit advertisers from watching their online activity. The bill is proposed to protect consumer privacy and also give companies better knowledge on consumer expectations. This report comes 14 months after the Commerce Department initially proposed a privacy bill of rights. The issue gained endorsement after the release of this report on the 23rd of February.

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This article was written for the Associated Press by internet reporter, Anick Jesdanun. The Associated Press is a credited news agency that has basis in newspapers, radio, and television. This article is a popular news source. There was not much information on the author other than the fact that she writes for Associated Press. However, the fact that she writes for this credible news company insures me that this is a reliable source. The article is completely objective and merely states facts on the proposal of this new bill by the Obama administration. The article contains no bias or opinions from the author. The purpose of this article was to inform people of the new goings-on about the topic of consumer privacy on the internet. In comparison to some of my other sources it shows specifically the effect of consumer privacy in the government and public policy. I plan on using this source because it offers more facts to my research and reiterates the side of the argument I plan to take in my research project. It shows me how my topic was, at first, interesting to me because of how it affected me personally, but now I see the effects it has on the national scale and in federal government. Overall, I think that her biggest issue is citations. I saw a few period and italic errors in her citations. Also, I feel that she could give more thorough analysis of some of the authors credibility. Those are the only errors that I could find in her annotated bibliography. Rebekah Dikkers