Author:
Sylvia E. PeacockPinpointing the group of Canadians who are affected most by web tracking and personal data storage. Background: Due to the lack of regulations and online information market failure, online personal data extraction is ubiquitous. Little knowledge exists about who the users mainly affected by personal data extraction are. Method: Two large population surveys, the CIUS 2010 and 2012 offer comprehensive and comparable measures to gauge the intensity and extent of people’s online activities. An Internet intensity index is proposed to measure Canadian online activity scaled between zero (offline) and 100 (intensely active). Results: Increasingly mature, well-off and educated men and women are captured in the big data bases of online companies that pursue online tracking. Other population segments appear less affected. Conclusions: From a marketing perspective, the targeted group is the most coveted of all consumer groups, thus corporate self-regulation seems even more unlikely in the light of the current results. The overuse of the Internet commons for the purpose of personal user data extraction might lead to an underuse of its connective possibilities. Today’s non-regulated web tracking might present a first indication of online companies steering towards an online tragedy of the commons.
