Now that Barbie seems to have risen from the ashes and is trending again, judging by the juicy box office figures for her latest film and this budding pink fever, it seems a good time to look back at a time when her attempt to reinvent herself, while not without controversy, was far from a success.
Back in 2015, an unsettling Hello Barbie disturbed the peace of parents, who all but saw this Mattel doll that could talk, listen and reply as a demonic device threatening to invade the privacy of children and the whole family with its built-in microphone, electronics and Wi-Fi connection for commercial purposes.
Today, one practice that generates a lot of controversy and ethical debate is BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING. It’s a marketing strategy that looks at users’ behaviour across different digital media, such as websites and social networks, to create and tailor ads. Businesses can now get to know their customers or future customers better, find out what they love or need, and adapt their campaigns and sales strategies accordingly. Perfect! Right?
Behavioural advertising could be described as the art of BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, listening to know what to offer, while the problem lies in understanding how they get that information and, ultimately, whether it’s legal or not.
It’s probably happened to you too: you’ve wondered whether your private conversations were being listened to by machines when, some time later, you started seeing ads for something related to what you’d talked about.
BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING AND PROTECTING OUR DATA AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
The possibility that our personal data and tastes are exposed without any control, and that our phone shows its most harmful side by acting as an open door to a constant barrage of ads targeted specifically at us, would send a chill down many people’s spines. In reality, that’s not quite how it works, or not entirely.
It’s true that certain KEYWORDS activate your phone’s voice assistants, and it’s true that they collect a lot of information about us, such as location, purchases and search history: our trail across the digital universe. This footprint is used by advertising companies to get closer to our preferences or needs when we shop.
When you visit any website, say one selling swimwear, it might not be as private as you’d hoped. Imagine you’re there, on a freshly mopped floor, and your shoe prints are everywhere. As a result, you’ll most likely see ads for bikinis and beach towels later on.
But the truth is that the information they handle and collect is used anonymously, meaning your data isn’t directly linked to your personal identity. Personalisation comes from the huge amount of information they handle. So those precise ads that feel ‘made for us’ aren’t breaking any privacy laws.
Fortunately, more and more privacy controls are built into operating systems and browsers, as well as tracking blockers, so we now have more SECURITY OPTIONS.
Worried about the privacy of your data and how it’s used? Do you think behavioural advertising is out of control? Could the arrival of AI, with its ability to handle huge amounts of data and act on it, make advertising even more intrusive?
Without doubt, the combination of data and artificial intelligence will help create more effective marketing based on consumer behaviour patterns and trends.
Generative AI is increasingly being used by businesses to create instant, precise ads aimed at each individual: more personalised ads, despite its limitations. AI can pick up on emotions such as anger, joy or fear; using language-processing algorithms, it can recognise statements with a specific emotional tone. But it’s still a long way from creating truly original, creative content, which is hard for a machine because it lacks distinctly human traits such as spontaneity, a sense of ethics, intent behind messages or remorse.
«Hello Barbie didn’t just listen to you; it remembered what you said and brought it up again, at some point, days later»,
Richard Gottlieb, director general de la consultora Global Toy Experts.
Technological progress or a step backwards for privacy? Tell us what you think.
