Author Archives: Melissa Chyba

Wicked Witch or Job Candidate?

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Media Psychology, Psychology

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Wicked Witch or Job Candidate

I have observed an increasing number of articles coming across my news feeds and social media how inaccurate perceptions of aging women impacts them in the workplace. A recent WSJ article about women over 50 looking for work caught my attention as the trends in the workplace and media have some similarities.  The article cited a study conducted in 2015 at the University of California, Irvine where researchers submitted 40,000 fake job applications from both male and female “candidates” across three age ranges.  Unfortunately, significant evidence was found of age discrimination against older women. The author also noted that women often take jobs that are below their capacity, skill level and pay grade and are judged more harshly than their male counterparts for their appearance (Weber, 2017). Being someone who believes the “data doesn’t lie”, I looked at Census and labor statistics.

Women over 40 make up 48% of the U.S. population and men over 40 are roughly 44% (United States Census Bureau, 2017). However, when it comes to unemployment women tend to fare worse than men as they age. Unemployment in the 45-54 age range is higher for women (3.6% of women vs 3% of men), same for the 55-64 range (2.8% for both genders), and higher in the over 65 segment (4% of women vs 3.1% of men) (Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, 2018).

In the age of awareness and press coverage around unconscious bias, you would think the problem of discrimination and false perceptions associated with age and gender would lead to a more enlightened public. So, the question is, why? Why are women in higher age groups subjected to tougher hurdles and unfair perceptions by other groups? One variable to look at is the media we have consumed. If you think logically about the media consumed by multiple generations, older women have not usually been portrayed in a positive light. For example, Snow White had an evil older step mother, The Little Mermaid had Ursula the old gray-haired villain and 101 Dalmatians’ villain was Cruella Deville. The list goes on and on. See a theme here? If you don’t think these portrayals haven’t impacted our perceptions, please read on…

Cultivation theory in psychology posits that media develops the public’s worldview, especially in children. Media created worldviews, especially those with high exposure, can influence schemas as to what is perceived as normal, particularly with individuals in groups that have little exposure to other groups other than through media (Signorielli, 2004). Portrayals of age groups in television and film can influence our perceptions as to the size of a demographic group, as well as their competencies. Negative portrayals of older age groups can and will create perceptions, particularly with younger demographics, because they are not as likely to critically examine media portrayals. However, perception formation does not only impact younger generations, those in the aging group tend to hold negative stereotypes and perceptions about their own group as well (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005b).

A double standard associated with aging men and women exists in television, film and advertising messages about older women. In many films, women are often portrayed as younger in age compared to male characters and female characters are described as elderly at an earlier age than males. Women are often considered older in the film and television industry by age 35, where this age is higher for men (Bazzini, McIntosh, Smith, Cook, & Harris, 1997). Women’s value in film emphasizes looks and youth whereas men have additional attributes that define their worth. In an analysis of the top 100 grossing films in 2002, Lauzen and Dozier (2005a) found that male characters over the age of 50 were depicted as active in all aspects of life, whereas females were not. Men are portrayed as if they still have things to accomplish as they age, while women are portrayed with less purposeful lives, such as career aspirations (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005a).

Television isn’t any better than film and over time has portrayed aging women as becoming old earlier in life and are less visible than males. Furthermore, aging female characters are portrayed as less useful and with diminished capacity particularly around prestige and elements that would represent importance and vitality compared to men of the same age (Bazzini et. al., 1997: Signorielli, 2004). A study conducted in 2005 on primetime television characters found that representation, recognition and respect are not the same for men and women as they age. Specifically:

  • Aging female characters had less representation than their male counterparts starting in their 40s.
  • Portrayals of leadership increased with age, however when analyzed, men were much more likely to play leadership roles in their 40s and 50s compared to women.
  • Occupational power portrayals had a positive linear relationship to age for both genders however men in their 50s were more likely to have occupational power compared to females of the same age.
  • Male characters of all ages were likely to have goals whereas women in their 40s were most likely to have goals.

Lauzen & Dozier’s research concluded that there is double standard of respect afforded to aging characters based on gender. Male characters were more likely to have leadership roles, occupational power and goals compared to women, which could have potential effects on older women such as reinforcing a stereotype bias against them in the workplace (Lauzen & Dozier, 2005b).

Some of you reading this article may look at the age of the research I am referencing and say, “This research is between 10 – 20 years old and so much has changed”. With women’s issues receiving more attention in the media, it wouldn’t be farfetched to provide proof points of the changing times by referencing actors such as Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda in Grace and Frankie or Judy Dench or Helen Mirrin in powerful roles in recent years. However, this is a false assumption because cultivation theory posits that what we see in the media creates our world views regardless of the veracity. A study conducted in 2016 analyzed over 2000 movie screenplays and the gender associated with dialogue. As women aged, their percentage of dialogue quickly diminished while men’s dialogue increased in age. For example, women between 22-31 received 38% of screenplay words (men were 20%) and between ages 42-65 women received 20% while men received 39%. The numbers for over 65 were abysmal for both genders, however women fared worse with 3% compared to males at 5% (Anderson & Daniels, 2016).

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s 2017 analysis of the top 100 grossing films of 2017 did not provide an encouraging picture. Women’s total speaking roles were 34% of all characters which is sad considering they represent half the population. However, when their unfair portion of speaking roles were broken down by age, the story continues to favor the younger woman as men over 40 accounted for 46% of all male characters whereas women over 40 were only 29%  (Lauzen M. M., 2018). While it is wonderful to see some older women taking on powerful lead roles, the attention it receives is certainly not the norm.

There you have it, as women age in media and entertainment, if they appear at all, they are often portrayed as old, ugly, evil, less competent, less powerful, have little to accomplish and receive less respect than their male counterparts. American culture associates beauty with goodness and therefore a woman’s value tends to be associated with her looks favoring the young (Bazzini, McIntosh, Smith, Cook, & Harris, 1997). The time has come for all supervisors, recruiters and human resource departments to rethink assumptions and check unconscious bias on aging women as well. Women over 40 are a sizeable portion of the population, we are not invisible and dammit we are just as smart, capable and appealing as our male counterparts. America’s unemployment is low, skilled talent is a growing issue and women over 40 represent an opportunity to fill the gap. Is your perception of that woman’s qualifications based on data or is Cinderella’s evil stepmother influencing your opinion?

References

Anderson, H., & Daniels, M. (2016, April). Film dialogue from 2000 screenplays, broken down by gender and age. Retrieved from The Pudding: https://pudding.cool/2017/03/film-dialogue/index.html

Bazzini, D. G., McIntosh, W. D., Smith, S. M., Cook, M., & Harris, C. (1997). The aging woman in popular film: Underrepresented, unattractive, unfriendly, and unintelligent. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 36(7-8), 531-543. doi:10.1007/BF0276689

Labor force statistics from the current population survey. (2018, July 6). Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm

Lauzen, M. M. (2018). It’s a man’s (celluloid) world 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2018, from Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film: https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2017_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report_3.pdf

Lauzen, M., & Dozier, D. (2005a). Maintaining the double standard: Portrayals of age and gender in popular flms. Sex Roles, 52(7/8), 437-446. doi:10.1007/s11199-00593710-1

Lauzen, M., & Dozier, D. (2005b). Recognition and respect revisited: Portrayals of age and gender in prime-time television. Mass Communication, 8(3), 241-256.

Signorielli, N. (2004). Aging on television: Messages relating to gender, race and occupation in prime time. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electric Media, 48(2), 279-301.

United States Census Bureau. (2017, June). Annual estimates of the resident population by sex, age, race, and hispanic origin for the United States and states: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 more information. Retrieved from American Fact Finder: https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Weber, L. (2017, October 10). After 50, women struggle to find a foothold at work. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-50-women-struggle-to-find-a-foothold-at-work-1507608181?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

 

 

 

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Calling BS on Facebook’s PR Ruse

15 Friday Jun 2018

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In March 2018, Facebook announced they would no longer integrate with third-party data providers that enable marketers to create targeted audiences on its platform as a response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Consequently, I wrote an article about this entitled Facebook’s Red Herring, because that is exactly what it was–a very artful distraction and attempt to deceive consumers into believing Facebook’s action was about addressing their privacy. But that is not what it was about.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal was about data leaving Facebook and being used in ways that were not authorized by participants of the survey. The decision to dissolve third-party data partnerships is about data that goes into Facebook to segment audiences for relevant targeting. However, what consumers have not seen the same publicity on is that Facebook has modified their stance on third-party partnerships so their data can still be used. The point I made in my article is that Facebook demonized third-party data providers in the press by announcing their dissolution of partnerships while avoiding the same public scrutiny around the real reason for their action.

Marketers can still append third-party data, which is compiled by a vendor to provide context, to a customer or prospect outside of Facebook and then ‘onboard it’ for digital marketing. Marketers simply need to sign an agreement with an onboarding provider that includes Facebook’s new terms and conditions. They can then append third-party information to customer lists and create target groups, or they obtain prospect lists of their target groups from a third-party data provider. From there advertisers onboard that data and upload it via Campaign Manager to Facebook. Some onboarders such as LiveRamp have third-party data available in their platforms so prospect audiences can be created and pushed to Facebook without the need to purchase the prospect list with personally identifiable information (PII) from the third-party data provider.

Regardless of how the marketer goes about it, once data is onboarded or audiences are created in an onboarding platform, they can be activated (used for media purchase) on Facebook. Voilá – third party data is still being used on Facebook. Facebook’s move to divorce themselves from third-party data did not mean it couldn’t be used, they are just requiring an additional step that many marketers are already proficiently executing.

If you are unfamiliar with how consumer data onboarding works, here is a short explanation: Consumer data onboarders like LiveRamp, Neustar and Oracle move offline marketing lists containing PII such as CRM data, loyalty databases, prospecting lists, etc., to the online ecosystem and match or link (via a common identifier such as email address) to cookies and device IDs in a privacy-compliant manner. The reason this matching is considered privacy compliant is because consumer PII is anonymized. Marketers never receive which specific cookies and device IDs are associated with the consumer profile.

Onboarders can connect consumer PII to cookies because they visit websites that are part of the onboarder’s network where consumers have provided permission to share their information with third parties. One example of a website that collects consumer PII and online attributes such as cookies, device IDs, etc. is Tripit. When you create an account on Tripit, you provide information that associates a cookie or device ID with your PII. If you look at Tripit’s privacy policy under “Cookies, Analytics and Tracking”, it expressly states: “…providers may also automatically collect the above information about you through the App and on other sites and services, including personally identifiable information about your online activities over time and across different websites, devices, online services, and applications when you use our App. Some third parties help us and others associate your activities across the browsers and devices you use, or that your household uses, for retargeting, cross-device advertising, analytics, and measurement purposes”. Because an onboarded list will include PII, it can be matched to a cookie/device ID if a website with these permissions are in the onboarder’s network of partner contributors.

Sorry dear consumer, Facebook’s dissolution of third-party data partnerships continues to be a red herring and does not prevent such data from being used on their platform. Furthermore, Facebook continues to collect and store first-party data (i.e., owned by them) on you that advertisers can leverage for target audience creation; and they have those rights because it is buried in the required terms and conditions you consented to when your account was created.

So, while Facebook has demonized third-party data in the press right after the Cambridge Analytica scandal (even though completely unrelated to the latter’s dubious use), they have not prevented its use. Frankly, I find Facebook’s use of first-party data and passive surveillance via their pixel on other websites resulting in those creepy retargeting advertisements much more intrusive then my being a member of a target audience based on my demographics and other modeled assumptions.

Consumer trust is the new “oil” in today’s data economy, and it requires more than lip service. Perhaps it is time for Facebook to figure that out.

Posted by | Filed under Advertising, Media Literacy, Media Psychology, Personal Data, Psychology

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Facebook’s Red Herring

29 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Advertising, Personal Data

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Cambridge Analytica collected data on over 50 Million Facebook users without their consent. How? Dr. Aleksander Kogan a psychology professor at Cambridge University built a survey on Facebook that many users participated in. However, only 270,000 of those participants consented to their data being used and according to the New York Times that consent was for “academic purposes” only. Cambridge Analytica told the Times that they did receive the data, however they blamed Mr. Kogan for violating Facebook’s terms. Facebook claims that when they learned of this violation they took the app off their site and demanded all the data Cambridge Analytica acquired be deleted. Facebook claims they now believe all that data was not destroyed. The problem described is an issue of data LEAVING Facebook and consumer consent, not data going into Facebook.

Yesterday, Facebook announced that it will sever all ties with third party data partners to protect consumer privacy. Some privacy proponents believe that this is a great step in protecting the privacy of consumers. In my opinion, this is a red herring and has nothing to do with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, nor has Facebook done anything substantial with this decision to protect your privacy. Let’s start with some standard definitions before I go on and explain why this is nothing other than a distraction.

Third-party data is used by marketers to help them create marketing messages that are more relevant to target a segment. Segmentation is when a marketer defines a group of consumers (current customers or prospects) that have similar attributes. Marketers will then send the same message to that group (a different message to every individual would not be practical). For example, a segment could look something like “people between 25-45, with young children in the household and an interest in skiing”.

Third-party data comes from many sources (there are thousands of sources). For example, demographic information which is a description of the individual such as age, income, marital status, children in the home, etc. is all public information that can be gathered from sources such as the census. Another type of third party data is behavioral data and that can include what types of interests you have. For example, if you have a magazine subscription to a golf magazine or to a hiking magazine, likely that magazine has sold its’ subscriber list data and associates you with an interest in that category. Another way behavioral data is collected is by observing what content you click on, read or share socially. For example, if you share an article on Aspen Ski Vacations, you are likely categorized as someone with an interest in skiing. Purchase data is collected on individuals as well and can be done many ways. For instance, whenever you buy anything with a warranty that you register (like consumer electronics), your personal information is then associated with that purchase. Another source of purchase data can be credit card companies, banks and credit bureaus. Your purchases can be analyzed and then assumptions about other consumers that have similar attributes to you can be inferred (this is called look-a-like or LAL in the data industry). Your actual personal information tied to your specific transactions are NOT available on the market to buy (unless there has been a data breach at one of these organizations, then your information could be on the darknet). All these data sources in combination can be used to infer assumptions about you and others to improve advertisement targeting.

Bringing the thousands of data sources together would be near impossible for every marketer to vet for privacy compliance much less analyze and create the needed elements and models to perform audience segmentation. Therefore, data aggregators such as Acxiom, Experian, Equifax, Trans Union, Oracle, Cardlytics and many others step in. They aggregate multiple data sources so that they can be easily transformed into elements and models that enable segmentation. Some aggregators are much better than others at ethically sourcing their data. The best ones have a process where they vet data sources through their privacy departments and policies to insure consumers gave consent for the data being included as a source in the elements and models created for marketing use. Furthermore, the best aggregators are also transparent with consumers by allowing them to see what data they have and provide the ability to opt out. Finally, the more credible aggregators will not source data in sensitive categories such as sexual orientation or health indications for example.

When marketers leverage social media or digital publishers to advertise they can select elements and models supplied by aggregators to narrow the target audience. Marketers don’t want to advertise baby products to people that are most likely not parents, nor do they want to push golf products on someone who is likely never going to be a golfer. Furthermore, if marketers were not able to target audiences then advertising costs would become unrealistic for all digital media and those increased costs will need to be absorbed somewhere. Possibilities could include increased prices on goods or subscriber fees to use social platforms which would be wildly unpopular with consumers.

Facebook’s announcement yesterday was that they will no longer partner with data aggregators enabling marketers to target on the platform. Regardless of how you feel about third-party data for targeting, this has nothing to do with the Cambridge Analytica controversy. The Cambridge Analytica issue was about Facebook’s user data going out of Facebook to be analyzed and used without consent from the user. Facebook’s recent action is targeting aggregators of data going into the platform. In my opinion, this is a red herring to distract consumers that do not understand what Facebook is really doing.

In my March 2018 article, When Advertisements Become Too Personal I noted how Facebook leverages trackers that passively surveil consumers and collects that data. Facebook uses trackers to conduct surveillance on you without your conscious knowledge since you likely agreed to this surveillance in the terms of service and privacy policies on their platform and advertiser websites. Consumers don’t have the time to read through long privacy policies, terms and conditions. Furthermore, if consumers don’t agree to a digital property’s terms, often they can’t do business on or use the platform. Advertisers can still target on Facebook without aggregator data being available on the platform. For example, a Facebook Custom Audience is a targeting option created from an advertiser owned customer list, so they can target users on Facebook. Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code for websites that allows the website owner AND Facebook to log any Facebook users. Facebook also tracks the kind of content you share, who you are friends with, what your friends share, what you like, what you talk about in Instant Messenger, what you share on Instagram and other Facebook owned properties. Facebook can aggregate all that data themselves to create targeting tools.

Facebook’s own passive surveillance on us across all their platforms, messaging applications, other websites and even texts on our phones (if you haven’t locked down those permissions) is a much larger concern in my opinion. Instead Facebook is distracting consumers with this announcement into thinking they are making a huge step to protect consumer privacy when in fact the data they have and continue to collect on consumers is much more unsettling.

Your Data and “Those Pictures” Are Less Secure Than You Think….

20 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Psychology

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security-protection-anti-virus-software-60504.jpeg

My writing lately has revolved around media, technology, use of data and consequential psychological impacts. However, in a conversation with my friend Michael Becker of Identity Praxis he urged me to write about Personally Identifiable Information (PII) security fundamentals. According to Michael, personal data privacy is “the new luxury good” and we have all heard about the malicious hackers who find creative ways to steal it. Consequences of identity & personal information mismanagement, for the individual and company alike, can lead to reputation damage, debt, criminal records, loss of income, potentially impact your employment prospects, and yes, death. For those of us “non-techies”, when thinking about security on our devices we often default to, “I have antivirus software on my computer, so I am good”. Well congratulations, I’m sure that hacker from who knows where has never gotten past antivirus software. Those questionable pictures of you at your bachelorette party are completely safe and your privacy is protected, NOT (Wayne’s World reference). For your reading pleasure, below are actions, recommended by Michael and explained by me, you can take to protect your devices from being compromised and unleashing holy hell on you personally.

Begin with using common sense before sharing your PII. This doesn’t involve buying expensive software, it requires taking an extra two seconds to think before acting. Consider the trustworthiness of a website, mobile site or application you engage with before sharing your personal data – if something seems suspicious, don’t share. Furthermore, don’t complete a transaction online or in a phone app if you don’t feel it is secure. Either call the company or go to a different site where you can order the same product.  With email if you don’t know the sender and they ask you to click on a link it could be a phishing attack which can grab data off of your computer. Make sure not to just look at the email name or link, look at the actual email address and URL within the link as the name can be used to mask a malicious address link. Sorry, that email you received from a stranger asking for your SSN and credit card information to redeem your grand prize is likely about as real as the Easter Bunny.

 According to an article from the  Telegraph last year, more than 50 percent of people use at least one of the top 25 passwords and almost 17 percent use the password “123456” (Wasn’t this password used in “Spaceballs”?). When creating passwords, the best practice is to include capitals and special characters in our passwords as well as use different user names and passwords for each account. Reality is that with all the different accounts we have now, it is tough to keep track of it all so we all pick a favorite username and password for everything. Therefore, if a hacker can figure out credentials to one account likely it will work on several others. Password managers such as LastPass or 1Password are good programs that can make your life easier. A password manager is an application that will store all your different usernames and passwords and opens with the use of one master password. They also often contain the ability to auto fill log in credentials on websites. What’s nice about this feature is that it is obviously faster and more accurate, but also protects from hacker keylogging attacks. Password managers are also able to detect whether you are on the right URL which helps protect you from phishing sites. Some of them also have unique random password generators so you don’t have to think of new passwords for every account. DO NOT use the autofill features available from your selected browser, these are not secure! Finally, enable two-factor authentication (either SMS or application) on your accounts, e.g. banking, retailer sites, that support it. I know it is a pain in the ass, but so is having your bank account drained or social media account hacked.

With the Equifax breach last year most of us have at least heard about the risks from news coverage. However, most people think there are only three major credit bureaus (go ahead name them in your head…). BUT NO, Michael reminded me there are in fact FOUR. Make sure to visit all four major credit bureaus to freeze your credit (Trans Union, Equifax, Experian, and Innovis). Freezing your credit stops any credit inquiries on you which stops anyone from opening a credit account without your knowledge. When freezing your credit, you will receive a PIN code from each bureau to “unfreeze” it should you need to have a company run your credit perhaps to get a loan. Keep those PIN codes in a protected place (how about that password manager above?). While I know some people are concerned about the inconvenience of needing to unfreeze credit when applying for legitimate credit – it can act as a loan deterrent. True story, my husband and I were considering a larger purchase where a credit application was needed and then never did it because of the time it would take to unfreeze our credit, but I digress. Put it on your calendar to check your credit score annually. You can go directly to the credit bureaus and get the reports for free or use companies like Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, or Quizzle (each offer different services). You might want to consider getting cyber/identity insurance and darknet monitoring services. The darknet is a layer built on top of the Internet that is hidden and designed specifically for anonymity of which the biggest use is peer to peer file sharing. You can only access the darknet with special tools and software so most of us can’t see what data is on there about us. Besides monitory compensation and support in the case of identity theft, this type of service will provide you alerts for the types of things you wouldn’t know such as an unauthorized USPS address change. There are a number of companies like LifeLock, Identity Guard and Experian that offer this service and I recommend you check out this PC Magazine article on the subject.

Yes, I know my introduction started with a rant about how antivirus software will not protect you from everything, but YES YOU STILL NEED IT. PC Magazine recently tested the best antivirus software and the reviews can be seen here. However, antivirus software should not be your last line of defense. For example, antivirus software doesn’t always protect against malware, and what if you lose your laptop? Encryption solutions prevent access to your files (remember those pictures?). On a Mac you can use Filevault features and for Windows, PC Magazine recently wrote a review of the best encryption software for 2018.

Running your computers on the latest operating software and paying attention to those annoying notifications for OS updates can stave off major attacks (my husband a previous systems administrator is rolling his eyes right now because I used to ignore them). According to a Popular Science article the WannaCry malware attack had an update two months prior to the event that protected users from the attack. The same article calls out the importance of selecting a good email provider and mentions Google and Microsoft as smart choices since they filter many suspicious emails (but not all) before they get to your inbox.

Make sure to password protect your home Wi-Fi router (yes I know people who don’t) and use a VPN when you are connecting to a public Wi-Fi network such as at an airport, hotel or nearest Starbucks. You can also consider installing a cybersecurity hub on your home router such as Bitdefender Box, Fing or Cujo. These tools will monitor and block any suspicious traffic on your Internet coming from any of your connected devices (they often come with a virus protection software package). I also like that those mentioned come with parental controls allowing you to block offensive websites, limit social media and control Internet access by device. What I really liked about Bitdefender is that there are features to detect cyberbullying and online predators.

Identity theft is big business affecting more than 15 million consumers with fraud losses of $16 billion in 2016 according to an identity fraud study released from Javelin Strategy and Research in 2017. Digitally connected consumers, defined as those that “have extensive social network activity, frequently shop online or with mobile devices, and are quick to adopt new digital technologies” are at a 30 percent higher risk of identity fraud than the average person. Costs associated with the above suggestions can range from free to a few hundred dollars which could likely be offset by avoiding a couple of unnecessary purchases. Will it take some time? A few hours per year maybe, but the return on effort outpaces the same number of hours you already spend checking your social media or reading the latest salacious news story about identity theft or privacy invasion that stresses you out.

When Advertisements Become Too Personal

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Advertising, Media Literacy, Media Psychology, Personal Data, Psychology

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GuerraGPhoto's/Shutterstock.com

GuerraGPhoto’s/Shutterstock.com

With the proliferation of media channels over the last 20 years, advertisers have taken advantage of marketing technologies combined with data to serve more personalized advertisements to consumers. Personalization is a marketing strategy that delivers specific messages to you by leveraging data analysis and marketing technology    enabling them to target (the ability to identify a specific person or audience). Thus, companies leverage many data sources about you whether obtained directly from you, purchased from data brokers, or passively collected on you (tracking your online behavior). There are advantages to this as a consumer such as advertisement relevance, time savings and product pricing. For example, I don’t like to see the media I consume littered with advertisements on golf equipment or hunting gear, since the products are not of any interest to me. Secondly, I hate it when I have already purchased a product the same product shows up in Facebook, as this is just a waste of my attention. Rather, the marketer should show me something that is at least complimentary to what I have already purchased instead of wasting my time. There is a good reason for optimizing advertising because if targeting were not available companies would need to increase their advertising budgets every time a new media channel presented itself resulting in price increases to consumers. From an advertiser perspective, there is no argument with the return on investment that leveraging data for targeting provides across all channels which is why almost all companies engage in the practice. However, there are times when advertiser personalization attempts cross the line and it recently happened to me.

Last December I had a health matter I needed to address. My doctor recommended I try a supplement that can be only bought online. After trying some samples provided by my doc, I went directly to the company’s website and made the purchase. I never viewed the company’s page nor saw an advertisement for the product on Facebook (i.e. I left no previous online behavior that could be tracked). One day later, a post showed up on my Facebook feed from that same company. Serenol ad screen shot

I immediately yelled “Are You F***ing Kidding Me???” among other things. So dear reader…..you now know I bought a supplement called Serenol which helps alleviate PMS symptoms – hence my use of four letter words above (yes it works). From my perspective this was a complete invasion of my privacy and feels unethical. It may also be against HIPAA laws, or it should be! In the end, what this means, is Serenol, without my permission, disclosed my health condition.  Furthermore, it also begs the question: Now that Facebook has this data on me how will they use it moving forward?

Being from the data integration and marketing technology industry myself I personally have a moderate perspective on the use of data attributes for targeted marketing. I don’t want to see advertisements from companies that are completely irrelevant to me nor do I want to pay increased prices for goods and services, thus I have some comfort with use of my data. However, this scenario violated my personal boundaries, so I downloaded a tracker monitor and followed the data.

Ghostery provides a free mobile browser and search engine plug-in for tracking the trackers, something anyone can access for free.Ghostery Screen Shot

Ghostery shows you what type of trackers are firing on any website that you visit. With this tool I learned there were multiple pixels firing on Serenol’s site, Facebook being one of many.  The two pixels that interested me most were the “Facebook Custom Audiences” and the “Facebook Pixel” trackers. The custom audience pixel enables Serenol (or any other advertiser) to create Facebook Custom Audiences based on their website visitors.

A Facebook Custom Audience is essentially a targeting option created from an advertiser owned customer list, so they can target users on Facebook (Advertiser Help Center, 2018). Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code for websites that allows the site owner AND Facebook to log any Facebook users (Brown, Why Facebook is not telling you everything it knows about you, 2017). Either of these methods would have enabled the survey post I was shown from Serenol. What likely happened is Serenol and Facebook used these tags to conduct surveillance on me without my conscious knowledge and re-targeted me, hence the offending post. Yes – this is technically legal. Why? Because, I mostly likely agreed to this surveillance in the terms of service and privacy policies on each site.  Also, this method of targeting does not provide data back to Serenol who I am on Facebook, only Facebook knows. However, now Facebook has data that associates me with PMS!

Facebook collects information on things you do such as content you share, groups you are part of, things someone may share about you (regardless of whether you granted permission), payment information, the internet connected devices you and your family own and information from third-party partners including advertisers (Data Policy , 2016). They can monitor your mouse movements, track the amount of time you spend on anything and the subject of your photos via machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, when you do upload photos, Facebook scans the image and detects information about that photo such as whether it contains humans, animals, inanimate objects, and potential people you should tag in the picture (Brown, The amount of data facebook collects from your photos will terrify you, 2017). The social media company directly states in their data policy that they use the information they collect to improve their advertising (this means targeting) and then measure such advertising effectiveness (Data Policy , 2016). While Facebook’s data policy states that they do not share personally identifiable information (PII), they do leverage non-personally identifying demographic information that can be used for advertisement targeting purposes provided they adhere to their advertiser guidelines (Data Policy , 2016). This policy is subject to all Facebook companies, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. So that private message you are sending on Messenger isn’t as private as you think, Facebook is collecting data on that content. With Facebook owning 4 of the Top 5 Social Media applications, isn’t this a little creepy?

The next obvious question, is how can this data be used for nefarious purposes? Facebook’s advertiser policies state that an advertiser can’t use targeting options to discriminate against or engage in predatory advertising practices (Advertising Policies, n.d.). While they do withhold some demographics from certain types of advertising like housing, there are other questionable practices for targeting. For example, last year an article appeared in AdAge that called out Facebook, LinkedIn and Google who all allow employment advertising targeting using age as a criteria. Facebook has defended using the demographic despite criticism the practice contributes to ageism in the workforce and is illegal in the actual hiring practices of public companies (Sloane, 2017).

So, can Facebook use data about my PMS for targeting? Will they allow potential employers to use this data? What about health insurance companies? This is a slippery slope indeed. The answer is yes, and no. Facebook recently updated its’ policies and now they prevent advertisers from using targeting attributes such as medical conditions (Perez, 2018). This means that Facebook will not provide demographic selection data in their targeting tools to select or deselect users based on medical conditions. This type of targeting requires using third-party data, meaning that the advertiser is using the data provided by Facebook or other data aggregators to create an audience. However, I did not find anything that prevents companies like Serenol from using first-party data to find me on Facebook. Furthermore, when I went to the Serenol site on February 21st, 2018 (after the Facebook policy update), Ghostery showed that Facebooks’ Pixel and Facebook for Developers along with other pixels and tags from The Trade Desk, Adobe, Google, etc. were all live on the site.

This month’s Harvard Business Review published an article about how consumers react to personalization. The authors ran a series of experiments to understand what causes consumers to object to targeting and found out that we don’t always behave logically when it comes to privacy. People will often share details with complete strangers while keeping that information secret from those where close relationships exist. Furthermore, the nature of the information impacts how we feel about it – for example data on sex, health and finances are much more sensitive. Secondly, the way that data exchanges hands (information flows) matter. They found that sharing data with a company personally (first party sharing) generally feels fine because it is necessary to purchase something or engage with a company. However, when that information is shared without our knowledge (third-party sharing) consumers are reacting in a similar way as if a friend shared a secret or talked behind our backs. While third party sharing of data is legal, the study showed that scenarios where companies obtain information outside the website one interacted with or deduced inferred information about someone from analytics elicits a negative reaction from consumers. The study also found when consumers believe their data has been shared unacceptably, purchase interest substantially declines (John, Kim, & Barasz, 2018). Some of the recommendations from the authors to mitigate backlash from consumers included staying away from sensitive subjects, maintain transparency and provide consumers choice/ the ability to opt out.

I reached out to Michael Becker, Managing Partner at Identity Praxis for his point of view on the subject. Michael is an entrepreneur, academic and industry evangelist who has been engaging and supporting the personal identity economy for over a decade. “People are becoming aware that their personal information has value and are awakening to the fact that its’ misuse is not just annoying, but can lead to material and lasting emotional, economic, and physical harm. They are awaking to the fact that they can enact control over their data. Consumers are starting to use password managers, identity anonymization tools, and tracker management tools [like Ghostery]; for instance, 38% of US adults have adopted ad blockers and this is just the beginning. Executives should take heed that a new class of software and services, personal information management solutions, are coming to the market. These solutions, alongside new regulations (like the EU GDPR), give individuals, at scale, the power to determine what information about them is shared, who has access to it, when it can be used, and on what terms. In other words, the core terms of business may change in the very near future from people having to agree to the businesses terms of service to business having to agree to the individuals’ terms of access.”

In the United States the approach to regulations for personal data collection and use is such that if the action from the business or technology isn’t expressly forbidden, then companies can do it regardless of whether it is ethical or not. Unfortunately, regulations do not necessarily keep up with the pace of innovation in the world of data collection. In Europe the approach to data privacy is such that unless a personal data collection practice and its use is explicitly called out as legal then companies CANNOT do it. There are some actions you can take to manage passive data collection; however, this list is not meant to be exhaustive:

  • Use Brave Browser: This browser allows you to block ads and trackers to sites that you visit. Brave claims it will increase download speeds, save you money on your mobile device data since you don’t have to load ads and protect your information.
  • Ghostery permits you to allow what trackers are accepted by site that you visit, or block trackers entirely.
  • Add a script blocker plug-in to your browser such as No-script. No-script has a white list of trustworthy websites and it enables you to choose which sites you want to allow scripts.
  • Review what permissions to track your data on your mobile device and limit it. Do you really want Apple sharing your contact list and calendar with other applications? Do all applications need access to your fitness and activity data? You can find helpful instructions on how for iPhone here or for Android here.

Regardless of what is legal or illegal, comfort levels with how our personal data is used varies by individual. When you think about it, there is similarity to the debate in the 60’s on what constituted obscenity. When we find use of our personal data offensive we will likely say “I’ll know it when I see it”.

References:

Advertiser Help Center. (2018). Retrieved from Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/610516375684216

Advertising Policies. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2018, from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/

Brown, A. (2017, January 6). The qmount of data facebook collects from your photos will terrify you. Retrieved February 20, 2018, from Express: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/751009/Facebook-Scan-Photos-Data-Collection

Brown, A. (2017, January 2). Why facebook is not telling you everything it knows about you. Retrieved February 2018, 2018, from Express: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/748956/Facebook-Login-How-Much-Data-Know

Data Policy . (2016, September 29). Retrieved from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/full_data_use_policy

John, L. K., Kim, T., & Barasz, K. (2018, February). Ads that don’t overstep. Harvard Business Review, pp. 62-69.

Perez, S. (2018, February 8). Facebook updates its ad policies and tools to protect against discriminatory practices. Retrieved from Techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/08/facebook-updates-its-ad-policies-and-tools-to-protect-against-discriminatory-practices/

Sloane, G. (2017, December 21). Facebook defends targeting job ads based on age. Retrieved from Ad Age: http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-defends-targeting-job-ads-based-age/311726/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Las Vegas Shooting News Coverage – A Perspective

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Advertising, Media Effects, Media Psychology, Psychology

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News Man Pic

Last night I received a text from my mom wondering if we should attend the Bruno Mars concert coming up in November. I bought tickets for her birthday this year and we have been excited about attending. What brought on this sudden second guessing? The news coverage of the mass shooting in Las Vegas of course! What happened in Vegas was truly horrible and many are now second guessing how safe it is to attend concerts and other events. While I scrolled through my news feed and perused Facebook, my friends wondered in their posts how such a horrific event could happen. As expected, proponents for tighter gun laws have been in the news which has started a lively debate in my Facebook feed. This post is not about my political views on gun laws, nor is it intended to downplay what has happened. My heart truly goes out to everyone affected. My aim is to bring to light some food for thought as we all absorb the events and news coverage.

The likeliness of being killed in a homicide by a firearm is relatively low compared to other potential causes of death. In 2014 there were 11,008 homicide deaths from a firearm in the U.S. This translates to 3.5 people out of 100,000 or a 0.0035% chance (CDC, 2017). However, firearm homicides are dwarfed in comparison to the top 10 causes of death in 2016 which are as follows:

  • Heart disease: 633,842
  • Cancer: 595,930
  • Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 155,041
  • Accidents (unintentional injuries): 146,571
  • Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 140,323
  • Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
  • Diabetes: 79,535
  • Influenza and pneumonia: 57,062
  • Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 49,959
  • Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193 (CDC, 2017)

Looking at the numbers, we should all be more concerned about lifestyles and choices that directly contribute to heart disease and cancer. So why aren’t stories about the leading causes of death receiving the same amount of media coverage? Because media’s #1 job is to create audiences and anything sensational or out of the ordinary does the best job attracting attention (it is like trying to pass a car crash on the freeway and not look). However, creating audiences is much more hyper targeted than it used to be. News Media companies collect personally identifiable information on our viewing and reading habits through cookies, device IDs and set-top box data to name a few. This data collected is then utilized so they can sell their advertisers the best target audiences across their platforms. For example, Apple’s algorithms know I have recently been following hurricanes since I was in Florida right before Irma. On October 3rd in the “For You” section, there was an article from the Miami Herald about the tropical depression moving towards the Caribbean. Right below that article, an advertisement from Wells Fargo (my bank) was strategically placed. Wells Fargo has my personal information and so does Apple, so they can leverage an intermediary to anonymize and match my data between the companies while remaining privacy compliant. From there my anonymized information is leveraged enabling Wells Fargo to strategically target their advertisement in my Apple news feed. Because the targeting is more precise to the audience, Wells Fargo in theory sees a lift in their ROI and Apple commands higher advertising rates.

While media uses sensational headlines and stories to gain more of our attention, the bad news in the media affects our stress levels. A study on news coverage from the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings increased “acute stress” in students at other universities who followed the happenings in the news media. Furthermore, the more news media on the subject consumed the higher the probability the students would respond with higher degrees of stress symptomology (Fallahi & Lesik, 2009). Constant news negativity can exacerbate our own feelings of sadness and anxiety as well as the severity of how we perceive our own situation (Davey, 2012). A big dose of negative news daily can certainly send me into a spin of constant mobile device checking for updates and an overall pessimistic view that day.

Does this mean we should all turn off the news and not pay attention to what is going on in the world? Of course not, as the news media plays a positive role in society as well. We just all need to remember that News Media’s first priority is to create audiences and react accordingly.

References:

CDC. (2017, March 17). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Assault or Homicide. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from National Center for Health Statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm

CDC. (2017, March 17). National Center for Health Statistics Leading Causes of Death. Retrieved October 2017, 2017, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

Davey, G. (2012). Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201206/the-psychological-effects-tv-news

Fallahi, C. R., & Lesik, S. A. (2009). The effects of vicarious exposure to the recent massacre at Virginia Tech. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 1(3), 220-230. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015052