5 ms·

Recently I started noticing ads from my insurer when I was up late stating the "benefits of going to sleep early" and "why sleep is essential". This business is

Recently I started noticing ads from my insurer when I was up late stating the "benefits of going to sleep early" and "why sleep is essential". This business is going to get real sketchy in my opinion

jrcii 11y ago
If I'm not putting words in your mouth, and maybe I'm just projecting here, but I think the disturbance you're expressing stems from the imbalance inherent in the idea of a faceless corporation and their semi-autonomous mechanical agents (code) having access to intimate, personal knowledge of you while you have no access to knowledge about them. This is compounded by the motivation being to extract money from you. If a friend knew and felt your sleep pattern was problematic I'm sure you wouldn't mind - in that case personal knowledge is reciprocal, voluntary, and not motivated by money.
vollmond 11y ago
Couldn't that be innocent, though? Can't an advertiser run different ads based on time of day? You were up at night, so you saw the nighttime ads (for your geolocation).
- aburan28 11y ago
  If it was innocent then I guess the question is why did they target me for ads and who determines a normal sleep schedule? That means that are using tracking cookies at some level. I should also note it happened multiple times and I have never once seen my insurance advertising
  - pavel_lishin 11y ago
    > why did they target me for ads Because you were a human being who was up late. > who determines a normal sleep schedule Researchers and statisticians.
    - gotchange 11y ago
      What if you're working the night shift and your sleep routine or pattern is completely inverted? There's a lot of assumptions done on the advertisers' part here.
      - pavel_lishin 11y ago
        One can either complain that the ads are too invasive by targeting you specifically, or complain that ads are too vague and are therefore irrelevant to you.
      - tedunangst 11y ago
        Obviously the problem is that the advertiser doesn't know enough about you. They need to track more data, not less!
        gotchange 11y ago
        Obviously I am not arguing for more tracking by advertisers. I was just pointing out the fault in their reasoning that they make a lot of assumptions not based on strong science.
        pavel_lishin 11y ago
        Citing exceptions to general rules doesn't mean their assumptions aren't based on science. My advertisement for a beach vacation isn't "not based on strong science" just because I'm not aiming it at people with albinism.
aburan28 11y ago
Another relevant fact, my insurance offers a discount to those willing to wear a pedometer

jrcii 11y ago

If I'm not putting words in your mouth, and maybe I'm just projecting here, but I think the disturbance you're expressing stems from the imbalance inherent in the idea of a faceless corporation and their semi-autonomous mechanical agents (code) having access to intimate, personal knowledge of you while you have no access to knowledge about them. This is compounded by the motivation being to extract money from you. If a friend knew and felt your sleep pattern was problematic I'm sure you wouldn't mind - in that case personal knowledge is reciprocal, voluntary, and not motivated by money.

vollmond 11y ago

Couldn't that be innocent, though? Can't an advertiser run different ads based on time of day? You were up at night, so you saw the nighttime ads (for your geolocation).

aburan28 11y ago
If it was innocent then I guess the question is why did they target me for ads and who determines a normal sleep schedule? That means that are using tracking cookies at some level. I should also note it happened multiple times and I have never once seen my insurance advertising
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  > why did they target me for ads Because you were a human being who was up late. > who determines a normal sleep schedule Researchers and statisticians.
  - gotchange 11y ago
    What if you're working the night shift and your sleep routine or pattern is completely inverted? There's a lot of assumptions done on the advertisers' part here.
    - pavel_lishin 11y ago
      One can either complain that the ads are too invasive by targeting you specifically, or complain that ads are too vague and are therefore irrelevant to you.
    - tedunangst 11y ago
      Obviously the problem is that the advertiser doesn't know enough about you. They need to track more data, not less!
      - gotchange 11y ago
        Obviously I am not arguing for more tracking by advertisers. I was just pointing out the fault in their reasoning that they make a lot of assumptions not based on strong science.
        pavel_lishin 11y ago
        Citing exceptions to general rules doesn't mean their assumptions aren't based on science. My advertisement for a beach vacation isn't "not based on strong science" just because I'm not aiming it at people with albinism.

aburan28 11y ago

Another relevant fact, my insurance offers a discount to those willing to wear a pedometer