Because this is a collegelevel text. it is likely that most readers fall within the adult 1824 demographic. This isn't hard to extrapolate, nor is it all that intrusive to the reader that someone somewhere has this information. But what if the knowledge was much deeper? For example, what if an unknown organization knew where you are from. what your marital status is. what college you are attending. if you are female or male. and what type of cologne or perime you like? That might be a bit scary. If the information could go even deeper. well, most people would consider that unsettling. It is just these types of feelings that drive consumer privacy issues online. Throughout this chapter we've highlighted the various ways in which consumers are targeted and messaged when they access information online. Much of this is possible due to a few lines of code. called cookies, that track. categorize. and lter your every click. Compes like BlueKai, an online behavioral data company. supply marketers with access to onMe consumers who've behaved in a way that matches their intended target audience. For instance, if .fiudi wanted consideration from a potential new car buyer. it could pay BlueKai to identify and target all relevant people who've recently visited an auto site. spent a lot of time on that site, and frequently returned over a specic time period. Companies like BlueKai can even suggest what type of car the person is interested in. If Audi wanted to deliver a message to people considering rival BMW's cars, it could potentially buy information about BMW \"Auto Intenders.\" as classied by BlueKai. BlueKai partners with sites like Expediacom to help them {a} capture these data (b) mine the data for insights {c} organize and categorize the information (d) sell it to advertisers in exchange. BlueKai shares the information and the revenue it creates with its partners. This allows its partners to have multiple revenue streams and do a better job of classifying their monthly internet traffic that they too sell to advertisers. When polled. 62 percent of consumers say they do not want their online activities tracked. However, behaviorally targeted advertising represents some of the highestperforming online ads. So how does a marketer deal with this. as consumers are clearly more responsive to targeted ads but don"t trust how the data used to target them is gathered and used? To further complicate the issue. when an advertiser also has a popular web property, like Amazoncom. then the question of who owns the data arises. While some argue that the data of any individual is owned by that individual, until recently there have been no clear directions for consumers. nor any industrywide practices that allow customers to limit the data companies can access. Any consumer can turn of cookies in his or her browser. However. by doing so the consumer no longer gets a personalized online experience. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has investigated the issue. much like it did in the early 20005 when it ultimately passed the CAN-SPAM Act making it illegal to spam send email without permission. in late 2011, the FTC issued a privacy report that called for a \"do not traclc'= system to be put in place. but it took the EU to actually legislate privacy policies with teeth. In 2018 the EU issued the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). which specifies that any marketer who does business in Europe must meet specific data protection and privacy rules. And because every major online company does business in Europe. it means Americans receive these same benets. Among the many requirements of the GDPR are that sites must disclose that they collect data. describe how long they will retain the data. and indicate whether the data are to be shared with third parties. Most importantly. sites must obtain consent to the company's data policies from visitors. Does the regulation have teeth? immediately on its implementation. websites around the world began complying with its requirements. And in November 2018. Google was charged with GDPR violations by seven European countries. So it appears that what US. regulators could not accomplish. Europe has done for them. Questions 1. Why would companies want to track everyone"s online behavior? 1. Think of the last five websites you were on. What did you look at? How do you think advertisers could use that information to better target you? 3-. Has the online media industry taken tracking too far? Do you think it is okay. or not okay. to watch people's behavior online