Personalised advertising

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Cover of Minority Report [Blu-ray

I remember watching Minority Reportwhen it first came out (i.e. when you didn’t need to take out a mortgage to go to the cinema) and really enjoying their portrayal of future technology, in particular when the guy’s walking through the shopping centre.

The main character has had his eyes replaced with someone else’s, but the shopping centre advertising gadgets are scanning his eyes and are asking whether he’d be interested in buying more of whatever he bought before (I think it’s something like lingerie – always good for a laugh).

Advertising has taken a step towards this future over the last couple of years – Google shamelessly tracks all your internet activity, and gives you adverts based on complex algorithms – which websites you visit the most, what you’ve read today, what keywords are in your e-mails etc…this was no more obvious to me than today – I needed to book a hotel with work so was looking at the website of a recommended hotel, and ever since every advert has been for this specific hotel!

So is this useful, or is it encroaching into my personal space and using my personal information for profit? I don’t think I’m bothered…

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