Everyone is become more and more aware of threats to their privacy, via their PCs. People are insulted when a big organization invades their online life – delivering access to more customized product and service advertisements just doesn’t cut it as an excuse anymore.
On that note, I don’t know what to make of this: Google is purportedly releasing a service that will listen to background noise in your workspace, and deliver relevant ads to you based on a fingerprint made of the noise.
Again, I just don’t know what to think here, at least for the outside world. Personally, I won’t be downloading any software that helps this process, and if it becomes a defacto standard for web pages, I’ll certainly be turning my microphone off (web page visit blocking at the router level notwithstanding).
***UPDATE***
I wonder if senior citizens, more aware than ever of internet security risks, use computer microphones.