Imagineyouwenttoarestaurantwithadate;hadaburger,paidwithacreditcard,andleft.Thenexttimeyougothere,thewaiterorwaitress,armedwithyourprofiledata,greetsyouwith,"HeyJoe,howareyou?Maryisoverthereintheseatyousatinlasttime.Wouldyouliketojoinherfordinneragain?"Thenyoufindoutthatyourburgerhasbeencookedandyourdrinkisonthetable.Forgetthefactthatyouarewithanotherdateandareonadietthatdoesn'tincludeburgers.Soundalittlebizarre?Tosome,thisisrestaurantequivalentoftheInternet.TheNet'sabilitytoprofileyouthroughyourvisitstoandinteractionsatwebsitesprovidesmarketerswithanenormousamountofdataonyou—someofwhichyoumaynotwantthemtohave.
Areyouawarethatalmosteverytimeyouaccessawebsiteyougeta“cookie”?Unfortunately,it’snottheMrs.Reid’stype.AcookieontheInternetisacomputercodesentbythesitetoyourcomputer—usuallywithoutyourknowledge.Duringtheentireperiodoftimethatyouareatthesite,thecookieiscollectinginformationaboutyourinteraction,includingwhereyouvisit,howlongyoustaythere,howfrequentlyyoureturntocertainpages,andevenyourelectronicaddress.Filloutasurveytocollectfreeinformationorsamples,andmarketersknowevenmoreaboutyou—likeyourname,address,andanyotherinformationyouprovide.Whilethismaysoundscaryenough,cookiesaren’teventhelatestintechnology.AnewsystemcalledI-librarianAlexa—namedforthelegendarythirdcenturyB.C.libraryinAlexandria,Egypt—doesevenmore.Whilecookiestrackwhatyouaredoingatonesite,AlexacollectsdataonallyourWebactivity,suchaswhichsitesyouvisitnext,howlongyoustaythere,whetheryouclickonads,etc.Allthisinformationisavailabletomarketers,whouseittomarketmoreeffectivelytoyou.Notonlydoyounotgetpaidforprovidingtheinformation,youprobablydon’tevenknowthatyouaregivingit.