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Re:Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising? by rcxdude on Monday March 23, 2020 @09:33AM (#22663939)
I think the line drawn would be easy: they cannot collect the data themselves, they can only use what you fill in on a form they present. Then the line is basically whatever you feel comfortable telling them, knowing it will be used for advertising. The incentive would be the standard reason ad companies give for targeted ads: given there are going to be ads, people would generally prefer they be relevant.
Re:Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising? by nkoren on Monday March 23, 2020 @02:57PM (#22667393)
This is fine on the surface, but still has the potential for problems. Eg., if I were Muslim, I might be quite happy to declare that I'm interested in Halal food and would like to see advertising relevant to my interests. Win/win, right?

Now, let's say I own an apartment block and want to advertise for tenants, but I don't want any of them dirty muslims in my building. I can target my advertising to exclude people whose interests include Halal food.

Or, let's say I'm the propaganda department of an adversarial nation state, and I want to stir up communal tension. All I have to do is find people with an interest in Halal food, and target them with ads exhorting them to join other Christians in the next Crusade against the Moors. Or whatever. This was actually a common technique in the 2016 election: identify voters who, via their social connections and profile interests, are likely on the fence about Clinton vs. Trump, and also are a bit homophobic -- then target them with "Queers for Hillary" advertisments.

It's shocking how easy it is to weaponize this stuff.

Re:Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising? by woodrowbarlow on Monday March 23, 2020 @11:21AM (#22664934)
i like that, and i like using the advertising industry's standard PR line to justify it.