Community Chat

[newziesuzie]

Warning: the quizzes we've been taking are more than entertainment. We know they don't tell us anything really because they're written by office staff or advertising copy writers. The bad thing is they're also a powerful data mining industry, getting our info. Some of them get our permission to access all our personal and financial info in a sneaky way. And if we use them on social media we give them full access to our personal info.....and our friends' personal info......and their friends info.......and so on.

It's not just the Facebook ones. I saw one article and then realized there are a lot of them out there, articles at the links:


Quizzes are free data mining tools for brands

"Now that we’ve sold some companies on the idea of quizzes we're now looking at how to use the things that we’ve learned for companies’ benefit. So they can have their own shareable pieces of content that go viral and that are really associated with their brand.......... "That’s the brilliance of this plan," says Sinnreich. "Instead of us reluctantly agreeing to give marketers information about ourselves, we are emphatically proclaiming to marketers who we are and then demanding that our friends do the same."

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/quizzes-are-free-data-mining-tools-brands

The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes

"While Web quizzes may be fun to take, they're also a powerful tool for companies to collect your data and even your money--and often in ways you might not notice. We'll get to the spooky stuff in a moment, but let's start with the simplest method of quiz-based marketing: advertising. The very nature of a typical online quiz requires you to divulge all sorts of details about yourself. Those tidbits of info are like nuggets of gold for advertisers craving a way to connect with you..........This site goes as far as to periodically access your credit card........The company states that it may use "third-party service providers" to track down everything from your household income to your buying habits--and then resell that data to marketing agencies.... I'm afraid that the average user fails to recognize or take the time to understand what privacy rights he or she is actually giving up by responding."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/164527/online_quizzes.html


Facebook quizzes are hot on the web, but could expose your information

"What a lot of quiz takers may not realize is the quizzes serve another purpose: they are an easy and free way for marketers to collect data, especially when you share the results of your quizzes with your friends. “You are now sharing your friends list, your likes and dislikes in music and movies, and those other bits of information available on Facebook and Twitter with whoever made the quiz,” said Millersville State University Communications Professor Stacey Irwin.

http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/facebook-quizzes-are-hot-on-the-web-but-could-expose-your-i...



How It's Done: Internet quizzes may collect more than your answers

"So, how to take a quiz without compromising your privacy? The most obvious tip: Stick to quizzes published in hard copy. If that seems unreasonable, at least check the privacy policies of the websites you frequent; these policies often are found in the legal section of a website’s “About Us” page. If you’re on Facebook, be sure to read Facebook’s data use policy; it’s eye-opening. If you take an online quiz, resist the temptation to share the results on Facebook or other social networking sites. Check out the website offering the quiz. Note the website’s name and host name; Schwartz says there are free online tools that will enable you to check a site’s reputation."

http://lancasteronline.com/lifestyle/how-it-s-done-internet-quizzes-may-collect-more-than/article_c...

[sunala]

Very interesting. No more stupid quizzes for me!

[stilltamn8r]

I think most of us realize this....certainly after we begin to receive ""targeted” ads right after venturing onto a suspect web site...

[missy1]

. Also, posters are paid to go to different forums and ask questions.

[SydneyH]

I more concerned about the data mining the search engines are performing.......

[croemer]

Why those jerks!!!

[bikerbabe]

You mean unlike the data mining done by everyone else. Hello. Go to a website - QVC, Philosophy, Paula's Choice, Amazon - and you start seeing ads for those products all over. Everyone has tracking cookies etc.

Go to the grocery store, make a purchase, scan your store discount card, get coupons based on your purchases.

We're all in someone's database.

[Burnsite]

I had heard about this a few weeks ago and stopped clicking on such links. The 'miners' sell the info to other websites.

I don't mind if QVC keeps tabs on how I like jewelry and Bare Escentuals. I don't mind if Google remembers what I search.

But an apparent fun quiz is a creepy cover for data collection. I took one or two reposted on here and the results seemed totally random and irrelevant. (Change one answer and you have a whole different category.)

There is such a thing as a fairly responsive set of questions that doesn't just slew around and give a drastically different answer if just one response changes.

[croemer]

On 6/4/2014 bikerbabe said:

You mean unlike the data mining done by everyone else. Hello. Go to a website - QVC, Philosophy, Paula's Choice, Amazon - and you start seeing ads for those products all over. Everyone has tracking cookies etc.

Go to the grocery store, make a purchase, scan your store discount card, get coupons based on your purchases.

We're all in someone's database.

True...I just do not like the deception by using harmless quiz's. Dirty dogs.

[ROMARY]

I never click on links and/or quizzes, surveys. Not worth it, IMO. 'We never know' who, what, why, when, how, where it will eventually end up. Maybe not now, but as rules change, in the future.