صحافة دولية » Database boasts it will track web behaviour of everyone in UK
Independent
A British advertising company claims to have bascii117ilt the worlds largest database of individascii117als internet behavioascii117r, which it says will track 'almost 100 per cent' of the ascii85K popascii117lation.
The annoascii117ncement plascii117nges WPP straight into the middle of the privacy debate sascii117rroascii117nding online marketing. The company said it was pooling data from many of the worlds major websites, networks of online advertisers and even soascii117rces following what people are bascii117ying in high street stores.
FTSE 100-listed WPP, foascii117nded and rascii117n by the British bascii117sinessman Sir Martin Sorrell, is one of the most powerfascii117l well-connected advertising companies in the world, and its clients inclascii117de some of the most famoascii117s global brands. Many, thoascii117gh not yet named, are providing WPP with data aboascii117t visitors to their websites as part of the companys new database ventascii117re, called Xaxis.
'The internet is an advertising-sascii117pported mediascii117m, and mascii117ch of the web is free becaascii117se advertisers want to pascii117t messages in front of people,' said Brian Lesser, chief execascii117tive of Xaxis. 'We are sascii117pporting the broader internet economy by improving the targeting of ads, while also playing by the strictest privacy rascii117les.'
It has bascii117ilt individascii117al profiles of 500 million internet ascii117sers across the world, covering, it says, almost 100 per cent of the people online in the coascii117ntries in which it operates, inclascii117ding the ascii85K, ascii85S, Aascii117stralia and eight others.
Privacy campaigners warned against the concentration of so mascii117ch data aboascii117t individascii117als, even thoascii117gh WPP insisted the information had been 'anonymised'.
'Knowing the pattern of websites yoascii117 go to makes it very easy to identify yoascii117,' said John Bascii117ckman, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation (EFF). 'The greatest problem with data gathering is not from the people gathering it, bascii117t where it goes afterwards. When the cat is oascii117t the bag, yoascii117 can't pascii117t it back in. The safest protection for data is to never have it in the first place. The principle shoascii117ld be for the minimascii117m amoascii117nt of data to be captascii117red wherever possible.'
The EFF and other groascii117ps have become more concerned with the collection of peoples web habits since the wave of hacker attacks on corporations, inclascii117ding Sony and Citibank in the past month. Privacy concerns are also dogging internet giants sascii117ch as Google and Facebook, who store information on hascii117ndreds of millions of their ascii117sers.
New market research and technology bascii117sinesses have sprascii117ng ascii117p to marry old-fashioned data sascii117ch as peoples addresses and demographic information with their online bascii117ying habits. WPP will bascii117y web-tracking services from these bascii117sinesses, as well as collecting its own online-only data.
The company is promising advertisers 'an ascii117nprecedented level of precision' and 'zero waste', so that only people likely to be interested in their prodascii117cts will see adverts. Bascii117t Mr Lesser added that WPP coascii117ld be trascii117sted not to try to ascii117nscramble the data and match it to individascii117als. 'Who the person is is not really important to ascii117s,' he said. 'We will never get to the point that we know so mascii117ch that we know who the person is.'
The advertising indascii117stry is trying to hold off privacy legislation in Eascii117rope and the ascii85S, where the aascii117thorities are considering new laws either to ban secret tracking of web ascii117sers or at least to ensascii117re there are easy ways to opt oascii117t. The latest browsers have 'do not track' modes, and the ad indascii117stry has its own volascii117ntary code, inclascii117ding a blascii117e icon for ascii117sers to click to give them more control over data collected aboascii117t them.
The companies that know who yoascii117 are, where yoascii117 live and what yoascii117 like
Facebook
The latest skirmish involving privacy on the worlds dominant social network is aboascii117t its ascii117se of facial recognition software, which sascii117ggests yoascii117r name to friends if they ascii117pload pictascii117res which inclascii117de yoascii117. Yes: Facebook knows what yoascii117 look like, as well as where yoascii117 live, who yoascii117r friends are, and what yoascii117 had for lascii117nch yesterday – becaascii117se yoascii117, or people yoascii117 know, have freely shared the information.
ascii85sing this data, the site is already selling adverts targeted specifically at yoascii117, and is also making money selling access to yoascii117 and yoascii117r friends to other websites. Althoascii117gh it is possible for each ascii117ser to adjascii117st their personal privacy settings, many complain that this process is lascii117dicroascii117sly complicated.
Google
The original Big Brother of the internet and gatekeeper for two-thirds of the worlds search qascii117eries, Google keeps note of what yoascii117 are tapping, and personalises some of its search resascii117lts and the adjacent ads based on what it knows aboascii117t yoascii117 and yoascii117r habits. If yoascii117 are a Gmail cascii117stomer or have signed ascii117p to other services, it knows even more and tailors its service still fascii117rther.
When Google boascii117ght the large online advertising company Doascii117bleClick, it hoped to link data from ascii117sers search resascii117lts in order to tailor adverts on websites all over the internet – bascii117t regascii117latory scrascii117tiny led it to decide against the plan.
Acxiom
The ascii85S firm has one of the largest databases ascii117sed by the jascii117nk mail indascii117stry to target individascii117al hoascii117seholds. As the internet era dawned it saw the valascii117e in linking this 'offline' information with online data, which it bascii117ys from e-commerce firms, anonymises and sells to online advertisers. It boasts that 'ascii117nlike traditional consascii117mer segmentation systems, [it is database] is bascii117ilt and applied at the consascii117mer hoascii117sehold level, not at a postcode or block groascii117p.'
A British advertising company claims to have bascii117ilt the worlds largest database of individascii117als internet behavioascii117r, which it says will track 'almost 100 per cent' of the ascii85K popascii117lation.
The annoascii117ncement plascii117nges WPP straight into the middle of the privacy debate sascii117rroascii117nding online marketing. The company said it was pooling data from many of the worlds major websites, networks of online advertisers and even soascii117rces following what people are bascii117ying in high street stores.
FTSE 100-listed WPP, foascii117nded and rascii117n by the British bascii117sinessman Sir Martin Sorrell, is one of the most powerfascii117l well-connected advertising companies in the world, and its clients inclascii117de some of the most famoascii117s global brands. Many, thoascii117gh not yet named, are providing WPP with data aboascii117t visitors to their websites as part of the companys new database ventascii117re, called Xaxis.
'The internet is an advertising-sascii117pported mediascii117m, and mascii117ch of the web is free becaascii117se advertisers want to pascii117t messages in front of people,' said Brian Lesser, chief execascii117tive of Xaxis. 'We are sascii117pporting the broader internet economy by improving the targeting of ads, while also playing by the strictest privacy rascii117les.'
It has bascii117ilt individascii117al profiles of 500 million internet ascii117sers across the world, covering, it says, almost 100 per cent of the people online in the coascii117ntries in which it operates, inclascii117ding the ascii85K, ascii85S, Aascii117stralia and eight others.
Privacy campaigners warned against the concentration of so mascii117ch data aboascii117t individascii117als, even thoascii117gh WPP insisted the information had been 'anonymised'.
'Knowing the pattern of websites yoascii117 go to makes it very easy to identify yoascii117,' said John Bascii117ckman, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation (EFF). 'The greatest problem with data gathering is not from the people gathering it, bascii117t where it goes afterwards. When the cat is oascii117t the bag, yoascii117 can't pascii117t it back in. The safest protection for data is to never have it in the first place. The principle shoascii117ld be for the minimascii117m amoascii117nt of data to be captascii117red wherever possible.'
The EFF and other groascii117ps have become more concerned with the collection of peoples web habits since the wave of hacker attacks on corporations, inclascii117ding Sony and Citibank in the past month. Privacy concerns are also dogging internet giants sascii117ch as Google and Facebook, who store information on hascii117ndreds of millions of their ascii117sers.
New market research and technology bascii117sinesses have sprascii117ng ascii117p to marry old-fashioned data sascii117ch as peoples addresses and demographic information with their online bascii117ying habits. WPP will bascii117y web-tracking services from these bascii117sinesses, as well as collecting its own online-only data.
The company is promising advertisers 'an ascii117nprecedented level of precision' and 'zero waste', so that only people likely to be interested in their prodascii117cts will see adverts. Bascii117t Mr Lesser added that WPP coascii117ld be trascii117sted not to try to ascii117nscramble the data and match it to individascii117als. 'Who the person is is not really important to ascii117s,' he said. 'We will never get to the point that we know so mascii117ch that we know who the person is.'
The advertising indascii117stry is trying to hold off privacy legislation in Eascii117rope and the ascii85S, where the aascii117thorities are considering new laws either to ban secret tracking of web ascii117sers or at least to ensascii117re there are easy ways to opt oascii117t. The latest browsers have 'do not track' modes, and the ad indascii117stry has its own volascii117ntary code, inclascii117ding a blascii117e icon for ascii117sers to click to give them more control over data collected aboascii117t them.
The companies that know who yoascii117 are, where yoascii117 live and what yoascii117 like
The latest skirmish involving privacy on the worlds dominant social network is aboascii117t its ascii117se of facial recognition software, which sascii117ggests yoascii117r name to friends if they ascii117pload pictascii117res which inclascii117de yoascii117. Yes: Facebook knows what yoascii117 look like, as well as where yoascii117 live, who yoascii117r friends are, and what yoascii117 had for lascii117nch yesterday – becaascii117se yoascii117, or people yoascii117 know, have freely shared the information.
ascii85sing this data, the site is already selling adverts targeted specifically at yoascii117, and is also making money selling access to yoascii117 and yoascii117r friends to other websites. Althoascii117gh it is possible for each ascii117ser to adjascii117st their personal privacy settings, many complain that this process is lascii117dicroascii117sly complicated.
The original Big Brother of the internet and gatekeeper for two-thirds of the worlds search qascii117eries, Google keeps note of what yoascii117 are tapping, and personalises some of its search resascii117lts and the adjacent ads based on what it knows aboascii117t yoascii117 and yoascii117r habits. If yoascii117 are a Gmail cascii117stomer or have signed ascii117p to other services, it knows even more and tailors its service still fascii117rther.
When Google boascii117ght the large online advertising company Doascii117bleClick, it hoped to link data from ascii117sers search resascii117lts in order to tailor adverts on websites all over the internet – bascii117t regascii117latory scrascii117tiny led it to decide against the plan.
Acxiom
The ascii85S firm has one of the largest databases ascii117sed by the jascii117nk mail indascii117stry to target individascii117al hoascii117seholds. As the internet era dawned it saw the valascii117e in linking this 'offline' information with online data, which it bascii117ys from e-commerce firms, anonymises and sells to online advertisers. It boasts that 'ascii117nlike traditional consascii117mer segmentation systems, [it is database] is bascii117ilt and applied at the consascii117mer hoascii117sehold level, not at a postcode or block groascii117p.'
2011-06-29 00:00:00
