Okay, so this is weird. Zelle has been using my name, and my voice, in audio podcast ads—without my permission. At least, I think it is without my permission. It’s possible that I gave some sort of blanket permission when speaking at an event. It’s not …
In 2000, I wrote : “If McDonald’s offered three free Big Macs for a DNA sample, there would be lines around the block.” Burger King in Brazil is almost there, offering discounts in exchange for a facial scan. From a marketing video: “At the end of the year, it …
This seems like a bad idea. And there are ongoing lawsuits against Amazon for selling them. [...]
Malicious ads are creeping into chatbots. [...]
This article talks about new Mexican laws about food labeling, and the lengths to which food manufacturers are going to ensure that they are not effective. There are the typical high-pressure lobbying tactics and lawsuits. But there’s also examples of companies hacking the laws: Companies like Coca-Cola and …
Rolling Stone is reporting that the UK government has hired the M&C Saatchi advertising agency to launch an anti-encryption advertising campaign. Presumably they’ll lean heavily on the “think of the children!” rhetoric we’re seeing in this current wave of the crypto wars. The technical eavesdropping mechanisms …
The Norwegian Consumer Council just published a fantastic new report: “ Time to Ban Surveillance-Based Advertising. ” From the Introduction: The challenges caused and entrenched by surveillance-based advertising include, but are not limited to: privacy and data protection infringements opaque business models manipulation and discrimination at scale fraud and other criminal …