After our class discussion on the prevalence of tracking technology on popular websites, I wondered if this same technology was used in sites aimed toward children. I initially doubted that it was but this article proves otherwise.
The most surprising part of this article was that 4,123 "cookies," "beacons," and other pieces of tracking technology were installed on a test computer from 50 popular teen websites. That is 30 percent more than were found in an analysis of the top 50 most popular U.S. websites overall, which tend to be aimed more at an adult audience.
It actually makes sense that advertisers would pay to install tracking devices on popular kids websites because children make up a large portion of consumers. Kids see something that appeals to them and soon it has the potential to become a trend. Discovering what exactly interests this demographic is useful from a marketing standpoint. Like this article said, "Research has shown children influence hundreds of billions of dollars in annual family purchases."
It's clear why this is controversial - children are completely oblivious to the possibility of tracking technology. In fact, most adults are. I didn't know anything about it until this class. The use of tracking technology doesn't bother me, given that any personally identifiable information, such as names, are not included in the data.
A Google spokesman said, "...users can adjust the privacy settings on their browser or use the Ads Preferences page to limit data collection." From a PR standpoint, I don't feel that this is enough. To be viewed in a positive light by users, websites should have a notification alerting potential users that tracking technology is utilized on that site. An explanation of what the collected data is used for should also be included. However, it is a strong possibility that consumers would just click "agree" like many currently do with general terms of use statements.
Some sites did change their privacy policies after being contacted by the Wall Street Journal with their tracking findings. I think this is a step in the right direction toward increased transparency for their users.
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