Targeted advertising a "privacy problem"

14th December 2007

Using web users' data to target advertisements without their permission is "dangerous", it has been claimed.

UTalkMarketing.com, a community site for marketers, has said that although using social networking sites to advertise on can be suitable in some circumstances, collecting marketing information from them is a privacy issue.

Niall McKinney, managing director at the site, explained that traditional banner adverts, for example, are a useful way of targeting a large group of people on a site.

Also, widgets on social networking sites are an effective medium of advertising as marketers can engage consumers in their own social environment, he added.

"The problem is when they [advertisers] start to use information about people they have collected," Mr McKinney continued. "That's when the privacy problem becomes very substantial."

Research by the firm found that 40 per cent of users would stop visiting the Facebook website if it become more commercialised.