ABSTRACT
Ethics requires that we honor consumers’ privacy in the marketing of our products and services. The major area of concern, currently, is the practice of behavioral advertising, also called interest based advertising, where their preferences are collected-often without their knowledge-for targeting particular advertisements to them. Also, patients’ privacy needs to be protected in the marketing of drugs and medical procedures. We begin with behavioral advertising, better described as behavioral “targeting.” Ads are targeted to consumers via their computers according to the interests
they express in online activities, such as search queries, ads they click on, information they share on social sites, products they put in online shopping carts, and comments they make in their emails. In addition “data brokers” are now collecting information from many other sources, including facial recognition technology (FRT) and other private sources, including “personally identifiable information” (PII), and putting the information together for business purposes. Collecting this data allows companies to direct more specific ads to consumers.
This cuts down on advertising costs-and also elevates the effectiveness to consumers in getting more relevant ads. Yet, research shows that consumers fear that behavioral targeting infringes on their personal privacy. Also, consumers often are not aware that commercial information is being collected. A PEW research study found that 74% say it is “very important” to them that they be in control of who can get information about them; and 91% of consumers felt they were not in
control of their private information. Some 86% have taken steps to mask their digital footprints, but many would like to do more.1
