On Online Advertising

New tools that collect information about consumers’ online behavior have equipped advertisers with a potentially dangerous amount of power, according to Tal Zarsky, a Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.  Zarsky spoke at the Berkman Center about tailored content and explained that advertisers’ ability to capture information about users not only allows them to target ads more effectively but gives them a greater ability to manipulate consumers.  “What’s the problem with giving people what they want – why should this worry us?” asked several attendees of the event.  Zarsky explained that the lack of visibility about data-mining and the potential for taking advantage of consumers are both problematic from the perspective of individual autonomy and for protecting privacy in the future.