The Filter Bubble will feed your paranoia. Eli Pariser shows how much of the information we get online has been “filtered.” Two different people will get different search results on GOOGLE for the same term. AMAZON will skew its search results depending on your buying profile. “The cloud” is essentially run by only a few companies that may not have your best interests at heart. Eli Pariser shows that companies who collect information are under enormous pressure to sell that information. That information then leads companies to market to consumers who fit their profile. Other consumers have been “filtered” out. The transparency of the Internet is a myth. After reading Eli Pariser’s book, you’ll be more skeptical…and more careful. GRADE: A-
Pass me that tinfoil hat!
Pariser gets into some scary stuff, Bill. The Internet is not as benign as we’ve been led to believe.
I am glad that you are reading these books and keeping us safe. I’d have cut my throat a long time ago if I did.
It gets harder to sleep at night after reading books like THE FILTER BUBBLE, Patti. The implications for privacy and data tampering are ominous.
The internet, then more commonly called “the web”, was once pretty innocent and transparent. As usual, the bottom-line people, the bean counters and profiteers have taken that away. It’s the downside of capitalism, I guess. I’m already very skeptical and cautious, and will remain so. I often find, when using Google, that it may be best to go directly to the 4th or 5th page of results, depending on what is wanted…
I also find I have more and more of a tendency to move away from hot new technology. Why, just yesterday I bought (well, picked out, it’s a birthday gift) an analog watch, after having digitals for 20 years. And of course no cell, no e-reader, no info pad, no F-book or Tweet, no pager, no GPS, you get the idea. OK, so I have a digital camera. Some things I do move on to…
The lack of privacy on the Internet is troubling, Rick. Someone out there is recording every keystroke you and I make, every web site we visit. And selling the information.
I know this is true. How many times do you look something up, check a hotel or plane reservation, etc. and then a minute later…whoops, something incredibly similar just happens to pop up in front of you? Or else you get spam related to your recent search.
This is getting more and more scary by the day.
Bill, pass that hat.
THE FILTER BUBBLE projects that the manipulation of data will get worse, Jeff. And privacy…forget about it!