Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Should Website Advertisers Know Your Name?
SF fans recall the irritation felt by John Anderton in the movie Minority Report as he tried to walk through a mall - while being addressed by every department store advertisement he walked past.
(Video of Minority Report targeted advertisements)
In the movie, Anderton was identified by means of a public iris scanner; his iris scan was compared to a database, and his name and other data were pulled out and presented in real time.
We're very close to being able to do this in real life. Sprint has tried ads triggered by RFID-based loyalty cards. In a special opt-in trial, cell phone users in France tried billboards that could call you as you passed by. In Japan, SuiPo posters can call your cell phone.
The New York Times provides an interesting view of personalized ads - right in your own home, or on your laptop or iPhone. The reporter asked Google, AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo a simple question - "can they show you an advertisement with your name in it?"
The short version:
- Microsoft
"Microsoft stands alone on the name-ad question. The technology company has gone beyond policy making and created a technological barrier to using people’s personal information in advertising." - AOL
"AOL does have the ability to offer ads containing people’s names, which are provided to AOL during registration. But, if AOL offered “name-ads,” which it has no plans to, its privacy policy only allows it to place those ads on AOL-owned sites." - Yahoo
"Yahoo is open to the idea of name-ads. A spokeswoman said that Yahoo can customize ads with people’s registration information, if they are logged in." - Google
"Google told me that they “might” have the technology be able to serve such ads that show your Google user name, and that they have no current privacy rule against it."
The future shown in the Minority Report movie video clip shown above is a real possibility; it could certainly be implemented on your computer while web browsing.
I liken web shopping or web browsing to looking into a store window. I do not want to feel that I am being personally watched while I "stroll" past your website. I want the choice about providing my name and personal data to be my choice alone.
What do you think?
Take a look at the nicely done article at Where Every Ad Knows Your Name - from Bits, the New York Times technology blog.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/12/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...' - Cordwainer Smith, 1950.
Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone
Why can't we get more innovative phone configurations?
Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.' Vernor Vinge, 1999.
Will Whales Be Our First Contact?
'He had piloted the Adastra to its first contact with the civilization of another solar system.' - Murray Leinster, 1935.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict E-Ink Displays?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
