Life Without revealing any advertisement This means that today you go to an isolated place, far from any civilization, so as not to suddenly see an advertising poster for a walk and, of course, without the press, television, radio and the Internet. But that’s not the reality for most: Back in 2007, the year the iPhone took its first steps, the average American urbanist received about 5,000 ads a day, according to market research firm Yankelovich. After 15 years, when a large part of the population is constantly tied to a constantly connected smartphone, that number is likely to be much higher.

The Advertising is so present in our lives That we see him almost no more, though he tries to draw our attention to it more and more personalized and topical. No one is surprised that soon after searching for something, related ads will appear on the websites and apps you visit. But how is this tracking done?Why did Instagram know on my mobile that I had just been looking for recipes in a computer browser??

“Devices typically collect information to improve the user experience (or so-called), to personalize advertising, to share this information with third parties, and even to retrieve data,” explains Sarah Nives Mateu, a postdoctoral fellow in cybersecurity at the University of Murcia. This information, says the expert, is collected in a “very simple way” Requirements that our browser makes every time we visit the WebsiteThrough cookies, web beacons (“pixels that are uploaded to the web without you noticing”), by logging in to a third party (Google or Facebook) or analyzing your fingerprint. The latter, fingerprintConsists of information such as the operating system we use, the language in which we have it configured, or the time in which we double-click, factors that indicate how unique we are in our online behavior.

In other words, every time we browse the internet or browse with a smartphone in our pocket, it depends on the privacy settings we have on our browsers and devices. We create lots of information that allows us to create a profile of who we are or who we are. Who collects this information, with whom it is shared, and how it is used is part of the items that we access each time we click on the Cookies Policy, Privacy Policy or Terms of Use.

Take for example a search that leads to an ad in a social networking app. Roberto Gonzalez, a senior researcher and data scientist at NEC Labs Europe, explains that in this case, maybe one of two things happens. First of all, it could be that the ad is served by the same company that owns the search engine (or by a subsidiary). “In this way and for that Advertising ID [un identificador único para cada usuario que tienen los dispositivos móviles] “Or because you’re logged in, they know which user you are and can send you a previous search ad,” he said. Another situation is the process of data synchronization behind the scenes: “The company that owns the search engine has contacted the user’s data. Advertising ID XXXXXX data platform and they, in turn, provide it to the company that bids the bids, ”he explains.

That is, it is clear that The data we generate through our activities is processed and shared by various companies. Involved in the world of online advertising, but the ecosystem is so complex that we assume that Alphabet, which owns Google, will provide data to Meta, which owns Instagram, would be wrong. “The ads shown in the app, as a rule, do not serve the app itself, but use A. Frame, The framework that serves them (I assume that the applications of large companies will have their own service for displaying advertisements). come on Usually, the company that owns it Applications Just insert a code to place an ad “And that you have no control over them,” said Gonzalez.

some other time, Hyperpersonalized ads match what we have just said And uninvestigated, so it can give us the feeling that the devices are listening. Pierre Bourdin, professor of computer science, multimedia and telecommunications research at UOC, points out that it depends on how we configure the smartphone, but it is clear that if we use the services of Google or Amazon, they really do hear us. “You gave them permission,” he said. It’s all about what they do, what they hear, if they really use it to advertise for you. Roberto Gonzalez thinks not. “Advertisements will most likely come to us because We talk about what interests us or the people we talk to“Either by geolocation or because we are friends on a social network, they can show us the ads that our friends are interested in,” he explains.

Regain control

Despite all this the hyperpersonalization of advertising Online, The ads we see are not always correct. In a survey conducted by ParcelLab earlier this year, 49% of respondents said they showed incorrect advertising for their profile.

The weird ads we sometimes see surprise us Who thinks the algorithm is us This does not mean that they do not know much about us. Pierre Bourdain explains that this may be part of the work of algorithms. “One of the problems Algorithms are that they tend to reduce their scope and communities get it right, But it means that other aspects that may be of interest to you are missing. To avoid this, they move on to another random topic to try to see what your reaction is. If you are interested, this parameter is added to the profile, “he points out, but notes that it is very difficult to know how they work, in particular, the algorithms that decide what ads we see, because they are very opaque and secret. .

For his part, Roberto Gonzalez adds that advertising campaigns in general “are not designed to maximize advertising for consumers, but to maximize profits.” In other words, even if we know that the user will click on one ad more than the other, If any company pays more per click, it will be more profitable to display their advertisement. A private jet company is likely to pay much more than a small clothing brand.

Therefore, this failure of advertising does not necessarily mean that companies do not really know who we are and that we need to overcome protection. “We have to stop downplaying this issue by thinking that it does not matter if they are spying or not, we are not interested in our information being irrelevant,” said Sarah Nives Mateu. “Companies create our profiles based on what we look for on the Internet, our habits, our purchases. They know our gender, age, whether we are single or married, whether we have children or pets, our tastes … they know us better than our own family. This way they personalize the ads they show us so we can buy more, but they also get very relevant information for some of the services. Your medical history is very useful to your healthcare provider, and you provide that information every time you contact Google as an online physician.“, – he notes.

The expert notes Privacy enhancement technologies (PET) or Privacy Enhancement Technologies as an Easy Way to Reduce Such Tracking: Set Up Your Browser to Block Fingerprint or Cookie Tracking, Use Ad Blockers, Use Popular Settings to Avoid Identifying Us Using Our Fingerprint English is the two most common configurations ”), etc. Other more sophisticated options are “Use Proxies Or a VPN or, best of all, use anonymous browsing tools like Tor or JonDo. ” However, everything has its analogue. “The fact that the use of these tools slows down browsing and the small importance we place on our privacy forces us to refrain from using them,” he said.

“I wish That users have more control over their data And they could decide how to use them, “said Roberto Gonzalez. From NEC Labs Europe, the research firm where he works, they “worked on the project with several European universities and companies over a period of time to develop technology that allows PIMS to emerge (Personal information management systems Or personal information management systems). In fact, they have just launched a data platform where users can “decide what data to share and with whom they want to share it, and in return they can receive rewards.”

Finally, Pierre Bourdain emphasizes the importance of legislation to protect us. While consumers can put some pressure on technology, eventually they have great power over our lives. “Even if you are an expert, it is almost impossible, for example, to have an Android smartphone without Google or an iPhone without Apple. We have the choice of who to give the data to. exists Free Phones“Yes, but very few people have one,” he said. But there is some hope. Growing public awareness and data protection laws have forced Google to announce that by 2023 it will eliminate third-party cookies, one of the cornerstones of personalized advertising, from Chrome. Apple has also introduced tools that give more power to the customer. However, there is still a long way to go.