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Is your privacy risk through these particular ads really worth $200? In other words, do you think your information would add $200 to the bottomline of Amazon (o

Is your privacy risk through these particular ads really worth $200? In other words, do you think your information would add $200 to the bottomline of Amazon (or whoever is placing those ads)?

awakeasleep 14y ago
You can't relate the privacy risk to 'those particular ads'. The advertisement you see doesn't mean anything- the risk comes through complete usage gathered by the advertising networks who bought the ad, and then resold to partners and affiliates. The risk some of us worry about is that a data tsunami will eventually push total awareness of device users to a hostile government or facet of organized crime. And while you would have worse things to worry about if the NSA or Google are compromised, there are millions of advertising affiliates and companies that share information and go bankrupt, which makes this concern a plausible fear in my mind
- yajoe 14y ago
  KSO ads aren't served by ad networks, and Amazon prohibits ad networks from having access to the ads for the very fear you mentioned. The only data recorded are impressions and ad-specific aggregate usage -- how many times did people watch the movie trailer? How many people converted? There are no tracking cookies included with the ads. Amazon values its customers deeply and letting the third-party networks gather intel about its customers is a lose-lose proposition. Amazon loses its competitive advantage for having great data to make great recommendations, and customers lose their privacy. The ads don't work that way.
Steko 14y ago
Amazon charges about $40-$50 for the no ad versions of some gear so let's say ads are worth that much to them. Ads that show up on lockscreen of a low battery tablet might be more of a nuisance then those on a kindle where the battery lasts weeks however. Let's also not pretend price and ads are the only difference: iPad "3": better screen, bigger screen, better SoC, better apps, better battery life, actually on sale at the moment.

Is your privacy risk through these particular ads really worth $200? In other words, do you think your information would add $200 to the bottomline of Amazon (or whoever is placing those ads)?

awakeasleep 14y ago

You can't relate the privacy risk to 'those particular ads'. The advertisement you see doesn't mean anything- the risk comes through complete usage gathered by the advertising networks who bought the ad, and then resold to partners and affiliates. The risk some of us worry about is that a data tsunami will eventually push total awareness of device users to a hostile government or facet of organized crime. And while you would have worse things to worry about if the NSA or Google are compromised, there are millions of advertising affiliates and companies that share information and go bankrupt, which makes this concern a plausible fear in my mind

yajoe 14y ago
KSO ads aren't served by ad networks, and Amazon prohibits ad networks from having access to the ads for the very fear you mentioned. The only data recorded are impressions and ad-specific aggregate usage -- how many times did people watch the movie trailer? How many people converted? There are no tracking cookies included with the ads. Amazon values its customers deeply and letting the third-party networks gather intel about its customers is a lose-lose proposition. Amazon loses its competitive advantage for having great data to make great recommendations, and customers lose their privacy. The ads don't work that way.

Steko 14y ago

Amazon charges about $40-$50 for the no ad versions of some gear so let's say ads are worth that much to them. Ads that show up on lockscreen of a low battery tablet might be more of a nuisance then those on a kindle where the battery lasts weeks however. Let's also not pretend price and ads are the only difference: iPad "3": better screen, bigger screen, better SoC, better apps, better battery life, actually on sale at the moment.