please respond to jacob with 150 words
When I was exploring my data through Google, I saw a detailed and extensive history of my searches, websites, and YouTube videos that I’ve been watching or scrolling on Shorts. I wasn’t too surprised, I knew they kept logs of my history, however, I didn’t expect all of this to be available off of my browser itself. TikTok was similar, and I can tell how much information they store because of how good the algorithm is into playing videos that interest me. Google collects browsing activity, location data, device information, and app usage. YouTube and TikTok both collect watch time, interactions and engagements, device data, and behavioral patterns. The most surprising thing was seeing how extensive and how far back Googles data goes. It seemed like there were endless pages to scroll on, and I even made it to some stuff accessed a year and a half ago. For TikTok, the algorithm seemed to adapt way too much. I could watch a TikTok about one specific game, then I am getting bombarded with other TikToks about the same game on my For You page. On both platforms, it is clear that by data is being used to “tailor” ads to my preferences as well as improve algorithms. TikTok seems to be focused more on the engagement aspect whereas Google is more focused on the ad revenue.
A lot of ads I see seem to be something tailor to anything I’ve searched up (or sometimes even talked about out loud). I looked up an address for a glasses store, and google bombarded me with ads for several other online glasses stores. TikTok seems to primarily put out content to keep me as engaged as possible, so that I stay on the app longer, and inherently view more ads. Both systems seem very accurate and influential. TikTok feels more-so since it can dictate what I consume within minutes, and seems to have a more “addicting” output on life.
I don’t feel as if I have the most control over my data, even though there are options to disable their monitoring. I’ve turned off the data monitoring options for both platforms, yet everything still seems virtually the same. I also feel as if most people would struggle to understand what these companies are doing with out data.
The people who benefit the most from these data collection systems are the corporations who control them. No matter how it’s looked at, their sole purpose is to generate revenue for Google or TikTok. Whether it’s selling data to other companies, or just using your own data to try and get you to look at some ads you might like, they benefit infinitely more than anyone else. There are also some risks to this, as many people are prone to believing misinformation, The use of our data is hardly ever involved in fact-checking before being bombarded by algorithms. There should be a fine line between data collection and consumptions, and there should be a lot of transparency (worded in simple English) how data is used in it’s entirety. Personalization of data collection should also be completely transparent and easy to maneuver. The users, companies, and governments should be held accountable to some regard. The government should protect it’s people, companies should be less greedy, and consumers should think rationally.
The evidence connection I made correlated with out reading from this week about privacy and data ethics. The reading said “phones, apps, websites, and digital systems constantly collect, analyze, and share data, often without full user awareness” which is exactly what is found in my Google and TikTok data.
The biggest difference between the two companies is that Google tends to collect data for long term use, whereas TikTok is everchanging and takes seconds to minutes to adapt. Google’s data also tends to feel more invasive because of how everything is stored (seemingly permanently unless you delete it yourself) and uses a lot more of your personal data then TikTok does.
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