Shadowy data brokers are helping consolidate consumer information from disparate sources, allowing curious companies help fill out their psychological profiles of customers they hope to eventually target with personalized offers. Every search query entered into Google, each second spent browsing reviews for a new pair of headphones, every political rant on Facebook or Twitter – each online action can be recorded and analyzed with the hopes of gaining useful information and ultimately making more money. Companies are honing new techniques to get inside the heads of consumers, taking advantage of the fact that people spend so much of their commercial, social, and entertainment time online.
Privacy is not a new concept, but we may be in the midst of a redefinition of the term.
