It’s no surprise that websites today have access to information that identifies us, but what is shocking is the amount of access they have, and how much of this information is then passed on to other companies and websites. A quick glance at the following chart gives us a bit of insight into how much of our (very basic) sensitive information is being shared by the top sites in the US.
While things like email, username, even our name and ZIP codes, seems rather harmless for websites to know, companies are already using this information to link our online browsing habits to our real-life identities. A potential car buyer enters his information online, and within the few seconds it takes the form to go through, the car dealership already knows what kind of cars he’s been browsing for on his home computer, and which websites he’s visited or consulted. By the time the buyer gets to the dealership, they’ve already been able to personalize his buying experience.
“In pursuit of ever more precise and valuable information about potential customers, tracking companies are redefining what it means to be anonymous.”
A WSJ examination of top websites has concluded that using real, instead of pseudo, identities is rapidly becoming mainstream. Because of websites like Twitter and Facebook, where users can retweet, “like” or “share” with their real identities, code used by tracking companies such as Consider Dataium LLC, which gather and collate information about users’ browsing habits, “can match people’s identities with their Web-browsing activities on an unprecedented scale and can even track a user’s arrival on a page if the button is never clicked.”
Recently, more and more websites have been making it possible (and sometimes required) for users to log in with a Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking account. In addition, I’ve noticed that all of these sites allow you to link your other accounts, so that you can share information freely between them. Instead of having multiple online identities, our identities are beginning to come together and become inter-linked. I recall back in middle and high school, when creating screen names and accounts on sites meant creating a pseudo-name, and being careful about sharing our personal information online. Now, people can check into their current locations on Facebook, use their real names, share personal photos, etc. Online identities are rapidly evolving, and so is our sense of security. Where will we go next? In two years from now, how much information will we feel perfectly comfortable sharing?