Sneaky Software: From VW to Newspapers

VW’s fall from grace as a trusted automotive engineering powerhouse resulted from its hubris and greed for better profits by executing a deceit on consumers facilitated by sneaky software.   This is consistent with a new rash of brash corporate behavior including the salmonella-peanut-CEO who said “just ship it” and the price-gouging prescription drug CEO who said “this is about trying to stay in business.”   But, what is yet to emerge is the widespread misuse of sneaky software for corporate profits across many industries, including newspapers. 

A New York Times editorial asked “what was Volkswagen thinking?...It is incredible that anyone at the company thought that the company could get away with it.”  But, the Times should get off its pedestal and critically examine its own practices with sneaky software. 

A bit of background.  The Time’s stock price is down almost 20% over the last three months and it is barely scratching out a profit.  But, the bright spot in Q1 was digital advertising which increased 14%.  It now accounts for one third of all advertising.  And advertising accounts for 40% of the newspaper’s revenue.  At this growth rate, compared to its circulation growth (i.e., people actually buying the product), the company will be predominately an advertising company in just a few years.  An industry analyst said “the company needs to continue execution on digital to return to a path of revenue growth.”

The digital strategy is all about getting more ad revenues through targeted ads based on cookie spies injected into computing devices that discover where you have traveled, what you have read, what you have shared with your connections on social media, and more.  I have suggested in another piece that you may not want your mother to know that you were at the Happy Times Hotel at 2 in the morning, so why would you share that with the Times?  

What’s interesting about digital advertising is its audaciousness.  The Times is “open” about its policies if you have the wherewithal to find, read and understand its 4000 word privacy policy.   There you will find some brazen statements such as the following.  (My comments are italicized.)

•  “If you choose to use NYTimes.com…you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions… which we may change at any time… It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Service prior to each use.”  This lawyerly statement means that just clicking on the site absolves them of any actions they take as described in the terms and conditions that may be harmful to you. 
•  “You may register or enhance your profile by linking to your Facebook or Google account… and you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use what they send us…”  What you record on other sites is shared with the NYT for its data mining purposes.
• “We may collect non-personal information about the computer, mobile device or other device you use to access the NYT Services, such as IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language and other transactional information.”  This is a curious use of the term “non-personal” since this information is very personal.  It is an obfuscating attempt to give the impression that it does not collect personal information.
• “We may transmit non-personally identifiable website usage information to third parties in order to show you advertising.”  This sharing is the bedrock of targeted digital advertising.  
•  “We gather certain information automatically and store it in log files.”  How long is it stored, how is it protected, when and how is it destroyed?
•   “Some of the services and advertisements included in the NYT Services…are delivered or served by third-party companies…These companies may place or recognize cookies, Web beacons or other technology to track certain non-personal information about our website users… an advertiser or ad server may also be able to collect your device’s unique identifier in the course of serving an ad.   In many cases, this information could be used to show you ads… We do not have access to, nor control over, these third parties' use of cookies or other tracking technologies or how they may be used.”  They acknowledge that they facilitate the spying by third parties.  But, why are they not responsible for the activities of their paid advertising partners?  Are these third parties trustworthy?  Do we need to check out their Terms of Service on a daily basis?  But, how do we find out who they are?

The New York Times is my favorite newspaper.  I have been a subscriber for decades.  It has a dedication to reporting excellence.  I had the same loyalty to VW.  Sneaky software got in the way.  The desperate reach for revenues distorted smart thinking.  It is foolish to believe that all these data collected for advertising will not end up being stolen or used for purposes such as profiling people that may result in a loss of a job, mortgage, or marriage.  As the New York Times pursues it digital advertising strategy, I sincerely hope that hubris, profits, and sneaky software do not conspire to ruin it.

Mom, 10, and TOU

My mother always warned me not to accept gifts from strangers.  She was especially concerned about those men driving by on my way to school who might lure me into their car with an offer of candy. 

So, when I got the persistent pop-up reminders from Microsoft to download the free version of Windows 10, I was skeptical.  Geez, I paid $100 for Version 8 a few years ago (and that dog certainly should have been given away for free!).  But, 10 gets good marks on its improvements in the operating system. 

I finally “scheduled” my 10 download appointment (like going to the doctor!) and the first thing that pops up is the Accept button that must be clicked, otherwise the download will not start.   I was so excited from all the marketing about 10 that I just wanted to get it...it’s free…it’s new!  But, then I started reading the TOU (Terms of Use) and I got the shivers. 

I usually click through these things thinking they are innocuous.  Spoiler alert:  Times have changed in the wild-wild-west digital world and you have to read them and take the decision seriously.  By the way, these things are legally binding.  Now, the install site only provides a few lines of the agreement at a time so it is oh-so-surprisingly hard-to-navigate and the words need a legal Google Translator to understand.  I scoured the site and found the “legal” button for access to the full agreement.  It is 45 pages long.

The TOU contains the usual disclaimers that “in no event” is the corporation liable for “any damages whatsoever” resulting from the “use or performance of the software”.  And if you do find reason to raise a legal concern that would question this disclaimer, you must use “binding arbitration” and “not sue in court”.   The scary stuff is in the Privacy Statement and the information they can collect from you from your searches, geographical location (GPS), data from messages, calendars, contacts, Cortana, and much more. 

The purpose of collecting all these data is for advertising revenues…to target you with customized ads to make you buy more.  As I suggested in my last blog, Google, Facebook, and now Microsoft are not search, social exchange, or operating system companies.  They are advertising companies.  As the old saying goes, “follow the money”. 

But in the wild, wild digital west, where there is very little privacy oversight, things can go wrong with your data, and they do.  My data “in the cloud” with organizations I do business with has been hacked three times.  But, the data on my computing devices is hacked every day. 

Getting back to Mom.  Would you want her to know that you were at a liquor store on 4^th Street at 11 PM, and then went to the HappyTimes Hotel at midnight, and then stopped along the highway at 1 AM for 20 minutes?  Then why would you want Microsoft and their affiliates to know it?  What other purposes will the data be put to?  It is very possible that an unsavory big data monger and algorithm expert could tap this stored personal data and develop a character profile that could influence whether you get a job, a mortgage, or a divorce.

Take your Windows 10 privacy into your own hands.  When installing 10, you can turn a lot of this tracking off.   Do not use the Express Install button which installs it all.  Rather, customize your setting and opt out of most of the stuff offered.  And if you have already installed it, use this easy guide to change the settings.  Or better yet, leave the trackers behind and consider a better operating system, Ubuntu, based on Linux. 

This unfettered appetite of advertisers and their partners, like Microsoft, to spy on you and use your data for their profit must and can be stopped.

OWN YOUR BILLBOARD

What would you do if a truck pulled into your yard, a crew erected a billboard in front of your living room window, and ads were beamed at you at all hours?  Or what if you hired a plumber to fix a pipe and, while he was in your house, he took an inventory of your belongings and sold it to ad companies resulting in yet more nuisance calls to sell you stuff.  I bet you would tell them to get lost and never do business with them again. 

So why do you allow this to happen on your computing devices?  Your device screen is a billboard, controlled by others, to sell you stuff that they predict you will buy as derived from spying on your Internet clicks through their insertion of cookies into your operating system.  I guess you didn't “get the memo” that in exchange for free Internet content and apps you agreed to a constant barrage of ads and legions of spies infiltrating your computer.  What’s next, GPS tracking of our car journeys, cookies on our smart TVs, face recognition in stores?  Well, er, yes!  There appears to be no end in sight to advertisers’ intent and ability to get more information about you to sell you more stuff.  

There needs to be an advertising industry smackdown.  Clearly the industry will not restrain itself and government will not act. It's up to us to shut them down.   And we have the tools to do so.

According to Forbes magazine, online ad spending will exceed $135 billion in 2015.  This is in addition to the $150 billion spent on conventional ads.  It is clear that digital commerce companies like Google, Facebook, and even newspapers like the New York Times are really not in the business of search, social exchange or news.  They are advertising companies.  Google’s ad revenues in 2014 were $60 billion, accounting for 89% of company revenues.  Search, email, and maps and all the rest are just means to the end of extracting personal information from you to fine tune ad promotions to increase the clicking and purchase conversion rate.  Facebook is designed specifically for people to “share” their intimate details with friends…and with advertisers.  The New York Times allowed 26 trackers, such as Doubeclick, Optimizely, and google analytics, into my computer when I clicked on a news article.  How much money did they make by selling me off?  Maybe I forgot to read the fine print in the terms and conditions that they can auction me off at will.

Pervasive ads are distracting, suck up your computer’s cpu and batteries, and condone breaking and entering and theft of personal information.  Why can’t digital companies make money the old-fashioned way?   You know, by creating valuable products and services that people will pay for directly. 

Here’s what to do.  Get an ad blocker, such as AdBlock, to kill the ads. Your screen will be so much cleaner…and you will own your billboard!  Get a tracker buster such as Ghosterly to stop the cookies from infiltrating your computer when you click on content.  And get a browser tracking buster, such as Disconnect, to stop browsers from gathering data on your searches.   Check it out…these apps work well.  It is one big step you can take to preserve your privacy within this overbearing surveillance society we live in.  And, if enough of us to so, it will send a resounding message to advertisers to actually listen to customers and change the way they do digital business.