Wall Street Journal reports that marketing companies are specifically targeting social media as a means of gathering information about us for advertisers. We knew this was happening, right?
Some companies, such as Ditto Labs Inc., use software to scan photos—the image of someone holding a Coca-Cola can, for example—to identify logos, whether the person in the image is smiling, and the scene's context. The data allow marketers to send targeted ads or conduct market research.
Privacy watchdogs contend these sites aren't clearly communicating to users that their images could be scanned in bulk or downloaded for marketing purposes. Many users may not intend to promote, say, a pair of jeans they are wearing in a photo or a bottle of beer on the table next to them, the privacy experts say.
WSJ has an infographic that breaks down how your photo looks to a marketing person. Because if you're going to sell Fanta anyway, you might as well know how good a job you're doing.