Has anyone read George Orwell’s 1984, watched Big Brother on CBS, or see the famous Apple Macintosh Super Bowl commercial 1984? (Its relevant I swear!) They all have the same theme: Some big creepy company or government is watching you, taking away your freedom.

Two things this week made me think of this topic. First, we started working on our group project for IMC 612. We have to create a diary and a detailed log of all our activities for two days. Talk about getting connected. I’m not sure I’m ready to look at an itemized list of my activities let alone share them with an entire class. Second, this past week in my Morality Law & Advertising class we talked about the Internet and the controversy over behavioral targeting. Has everyone heard of it?

Online behavioral advertising involves sending ads to an individual Internet user that are geared toward his or her interests, as gleaned from studying that person’s Web habits. You have a thing for Mexican Wrestling Films; suddenly everywhere you go on the Internet you see ads for Mexican Wrestling Films. Companies like NebuAd have tested this technology on many ISPs and some companies like Embarq didn’t e-mail its customers about the trial. Embarq buried it in a 5,240 word privacy policy on its website.

But don’t worry, the Federal Trade Commission will protect you right? At a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee last July, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Lydia Parnes said, the FTC is cautiously optimistic that the privacy issues raised by online behavioral advertising can be effectively addressed through meaningful, enforceable self regulation.” In other words, they have no idea what’s going on and how to keep up with the changing technology. So we’re on our own, hoping the people creating the surveillance software will find the moral fortitude to regulate themselves. That reminds me of the Sharks from Finding Nemo trying to convince themselves they didn’t like to eat fish. “Here’s Brucey!” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.), who chaired the hearing said, “I don’t have the foggiest idea who’s tracking me. There are so many unanswered questions.”

Another thing I’ve got students questioning in class is a new technology being used in the old medium of outdoor advertising. Start up companies like Quividi are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that use software to analyze facial features to judge a person’s gender and age. So far the companies are not using race, but they say that they can and will soon. The goal is to tailor a digital display to the person standing in front of it — to show one ad to a middle-aged white woman, and a different one to a teenage Asian boy. How far will this go? Cameras installed in the ads above urinals?

What does everyone else think of this issue? As a marketing person I’m very intrigued about the possibility of micro targeting my banner ads to people already proven to be interested in the category. As a person, I start thinking about getting a generator, living in a cabin and getting off the grid. I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist, unless you want to talk about Alpacas (it’s a pyramid scam), but Google just announced they are going ahead with behavioral targeting of their ads. And have you seen the movie epic 2014?

I’m switching to Yahoo while I plan my cabin in the woods.

Keith