Source: Consumerist
It is fairly easy for companies to track consumers and their engagement with just a bit of data on their online activity. In some cases, companies can still collect data on consumers without their actual engagement or login to a website, reports an independent online new source, Consumer.
Consumer data collected on a person’s online activity is then shared across devices and websites to improve marketing strategies, targeted to the “right” consumer, but also to improve security for the user.
The Atlantic delves more specifically into how company marketers access consumer information without website activity.
The consumer’s “usage pattern” helps websites, such as Gmail, detect when an account has been accessed through a new device or in a new location, reported Consumer.
Nevertheless a lack of transparency makes “tracking” and sharing information between companies fairly easy for marketers. Users who don’t know that their online activity is tracked inevitably become part of shared data between companies and marketers.
There are options to opt out, in some cases. An app called AppChoices allows the consumers to “turn off” ads from particular apps.
Read full story at: Consumerist