Privacy Prowl
In this individual assignment, we are examining the implications of our online interactions by tracking how the web tracks you. I will be engaging actively in an experiment to disrupt my algorithms by assuming a new persona or interest in a high profile, commercial endeavor and then reflect deeply on this experiment.
Start Questioning
Privacy is a big deal in modern times because we are subtly losing it. In the digital age of nonstop connection is there even room for secrets? In the classroom there seemed to be a conversation about hobbies and wanting to keep them secret. How can we do so if we get advertisements about them in our social media feed. In my experiment I wanted to test the connection between browsers by showing interest in a new hobby that I normally wouldn't have.
Photo of me for reference
My True Identity
Before exploring a new hobby, I had to self-access my own personality and my own hobbies. First my on paper demographic as a 150 lbs 20-year-old white male student. My personality and interest show that I enjoy watching videos/movies/tv (Hulu/Netflix) like any "normal" American person in this day and age, but my interests are also about creating videos/movies. I often look at creative information videos that revolve around breaking down scripts, camera angles, and general mist-en-scene of creating a movie.
I am often on Youtube and Vimeo and will often look at my IMDb because I know that person from somewhere... My main social media platform is Instagram, but I often use Twitter and Snapchat. I almost never use Facebook, but I have this semester because of a class.
My main browsers are Safari and sometimes Google Chrome since Google is intricate at this time. Often I am targeted for camera equipment, writing software, and dad tools (I have no idea how they know I like gadgets since I never actively look for them).
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Experiment
For my hobby I thought I'd take up horse riding. I knew there was ton of websites and related information for those girls in middle school we all knew.
(I'm sure the background tipped you off on this)
I knew my first step is to use a browser I never use.
So I downloaded Firefox.
First week I looked up videos and saddle prices without using my email.
Nothing. So I logged into my email for youtube and started googling more.
Then it was starting to slowly show more sure. I would check my youtube on my regular browser and would see a horse video occasionally. Not enough though.
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I started looking up horses in big journals to look more mature and I finally started seeing subtle advertisements.
I was confused at first, but I started noticing more exercise equipment showing up and I saw a weight-loss in my explore on instagram.
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Then the real kicker came later when I saw this on my explore!
COINCIDENCE!?!?!? Maybe. This post honestly might just be something called Baader–Meinhof phenomenon( or frequency illusion) which is a type of selection bias that makes you notice something everywhere after it's been called to your attention. A common example is when you're thinking about getting a car and somebody mentions a specific brand like "Volkswagen Atlas" you start noticing them all over town.
This will be talked about later.
Reflection
People want privacy, nay they NEED privacy. It's easy to be paranoid nowadays because it's so often that you hear about people getting hacked and all their personal data is out in the open, celebrities especially. There are certain measures that we can take to prevent hacking and there are even more measures to prevent cookies from taking advantage of us.
Maybe I really did want to secretly get into horseback riding and I was dumb/lazy enough to have my email out there in the open when I was looking stuff up. It would be super easy for that to spread into my other browsers because it has that clear connection of me mixed with everything. Even if I did the right precautions, I'm sure I would have that Baader-Meinhof phenomenon and start seeing horse related stuff and think "oh no. They know!" It's a saying as old as time. "If a man goes out looks for something (blood, trouble, fun), he'll find it."
We have to remember that it's a cookie's job to find things that we would be interested in so that we can partake in new interests. It's original purpose was for customer satisfaction and then it got corrupted of course... Let's not go through that rabbit hole.
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In conclusion, if you want to keep a hobby secret then your best bet is to try a different browser and don't sign in anything, or better yet go incognito, or better BETTER yet! Be open about your interest and don't let anyone put you down for it. Unless it's something immoral then trust me, the FBI and NSA will find you.
References
Kershner, Kate. “What's the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 30 June 2020, science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.htm.
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Richards, N. (2015, March 16). The Electronic Panopticon. Retrieved May 1, 2018, https://asulearn.appstate.edu/pluginfile.php/2894442/mod_resource/content/1/Shirky_Means_2010.pdf
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Shirky, C. (2012). Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. East Rutherford: Penguin Press.