In a recent post, we addressed Ofcom’s latest discussion document, dealing with the impact of online intermediaries (such as Google and Facebook) on Media Plurality. MOW’s view is that the appropriation of publisher revenue is the single greatest threat to journalism and needs to be addressed.
Ofcom’s report also contains some instructive evidence regarding people’s attitudes to data collection and processing online.
“[the report] found that only a minority of participants took action to prevent their activity being tracked online, even when they have expressed a desire for more control over their data; 43% of people said they ‘always’ accept cookies, with others changing their settings to accept ‘most’ (18%) or ‘limited’ (26%) cookies and only 9% ‘never’ accepting cookies.”
This evidence is highly inconvenient for companies like Google and Apple, who use public interest arguments and privacy branding to reduce data interoperability and business-to-business functionalities, ultimately, with the purpose of increasing the value of their own first-party data access. Evidently, people are comfortable with the presence of third-party cookies. This is in spite of the fact that the report also noted that many people do not know precisely what purpose they serve. Surely, if people understood the essentialness of cookies to the viability of digital businesses, and thus, the content we all enjoy, an even greater proportion of people would be accepting of the technology and view Google and Apple’s onslaught on interoperation as truly significant affront to the public’s interest?
Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (licensed for free under the Wikimedia Commons free license).