i think the main point that i have taken away from it is to ensure that you dont give these companies your correct details except your email. i mean, for e-buying, thats a different set of companies who are bound by law, but myspace etc can fuck off.
this is a double edged sword, because for example, today i found a long-lost friend from a-levels by typing in her real name. because i dont have mine in my profile, people cant do teh same to me.
the only thing is i cant stop people typing my real name into the comments, so i wonder if myspace will put this info together. i doubt they have the capacity at the mo, but we’ll see.
as gl said, its just an annoyance that they can specifically target you with ads which they think you will like, so the ads you see on myspace when you browse are unique to you and your demographic profile.
its just that there are application for thsi that worry me. knowledge is power, and if companies ring me up to coldcall in teh future, and they have not only my essential details, but my life story broken down in usefull social signifyers, which will mean the coldcaller will find it much easier to ingratiate themsleves with me, create empathy that they can manipulate.
even that could be seen as just annoyance, but for example i already find it hard enough to read through the bias of news articles, without them changing the front page to create one that is designed to be entertaining and involving to me, with stories ranked not in importance to the gereral readership, but to me specifically. this is what google is doing at the moment and it means beleiving what you read will become even more laughable.
god knows what politicians would do with teh info…i dread to think….
