Before you access any website, the infamous pop-up message, “We use cookies and similar technologies to help personalise content, tailor and measure…”, guards the information. But what are these enigmatic cookies and their “similar technologies”? Are they why we feel our phones are listening to us, tracking our every move?
We’ve all sworn at one point in our lives that our phones are spying on our conversations or tracking our everyday moments. From memes about having a personalised FBI agent, to targeted ads that crop up after conversations, digital surveillance is a significant issue. With this conspiracy so prominent, it’s important to understand whether cookies, tech giants or our own hyperbolic imaginations are to blame.
Are our phones recording and listening to us at all times?
In short, they can be — but not how you’d think.
Your phone and carrier may use voice data to facilitate Google Assistant, Siri and other virtual assistant software. If allowed, voice activated services are listening at all times so they can pick up on the trigger words such as “Hey Siri”, “Google Assistant” or “Alexa”.
Companies can use your voice data, alongside information like search engine patterns and behavioural data to create a “profile” of sorts. Companies can then collect, analyse and respond to this information with exact marketing like targeted ads or search engine shortcuts. This data is stored in files like cookies. So, if you happen to say “Hey, Siri. When’s the best time to go to New Zealand?”, don’t be surprised to see advertisements and travel content about your latest fantasy.
Consumers may, understandably, be shocked at the uncharted potential of industries developing from the data derived from our voices, particularly with analysis like that by Emma Ritter in the Duke Law Journal, which identified significant risks arising from the legal landscape when dealing with potential data leaks and risk analysis. Regardless, this kind of voice data collection has been considered by many as necessary for development, whether it may be nefarious or not.
Do companies develop algorithms that generate an unbreakable echochamber of personally targeted content?
One of the biggest queries from internet users is about the forces behind targeted content. Why are we receiving content, such as product and political ads, based on things that we don’t even remember searching and why can they be so spot on?
To understand targeted content, we must first understand algorithms. In short, enabling cookies when you access the internet gives more information for a company to use in their algorithm, enabling them to target you.
Algorithms have become crucial in marketing models, allowing corporations to rank and allocate content based on each user’s specific input preferences and thus maximise their reach. The process of accessing, computing and translating code to create targeted web responses is a never-ending cycle used for growth. Any change to this cycle stems from us. When we search something up or access a new site, advertisers can alter our personalised content.
In the recent technological evolution, companies of all scales have begun building their digital platforms with algorithms. Think about it like this: algorithms are their boats, the internet is their ocean and we are the fish. They reel us in with targeted ads from our unique profiles that seemingly answer our search for the latest pair of Levi’s or the trip that we’re looking to book.
So, yes. They might not be unbreakable but they definitely feel neverending.
Are we forever shackled to the control of cookies?
Yes, we absolutely could be.
Although this answer is framed to incite hysteria, the use of cookies is the cornerstone of digital development and advertising. Albeit, the future has not already been written, with increased demands for more privacy protection from regulatory reviews and consumers, some companies are reconsidering their approaches to privacy, or being required to do so.
With digital safety, there are always many angles to consider. On one hand, there is the knowledge of constant and mass data collection of your digital footprint but on the other hand, a personal and relevant user experience is being assembled just for you.
At the centre of most personal technology evolutions are user experiences. These are curated to enhance your experience and thus draw you back. Cookies and similar codes dedicated to translating data are what support these changes to your experience. They could even get more discreet and more familiar with that vacation you plan on taking (but haven’t even searched for yet).
