Anonymity is the internet's next big battleground

The use of personal data is a thorny subject for the public and for the many companies that use it. By allowing companies to take their data, internet users are enabling the creation of a fast, free and relevant online experience. But more recently the scale of this data gathering and the way it is then traded, analysed and used has come under greater scrutiny.

Users seem less willing to go along with this “trade off” in a post-Snowden age and some are rebelling against those tracking and snooping on them. Searchers are increasingly adopting privacy tools and ad blocking plug-ins, private search engines such as DuckDuckGo and anonymous browsers such as Tor to prevent their data being taken.

David Benigson, CEO of media intelligence and information discovery platform Signal, is one industry figure who believes concerns over privacy are causing a big change in user behaviour. “As people have become more aware of the potential for their online activities to be used in ways they hadn’t necessarily intended, usage of encrypted browsers, ad-blockers and other anonymising devices has soared,” he says. “Historically, web giants have managed to convince consumers into giving up their privacy – the fact that every Google search is logged and recorded, for example, is now seen as par for the course. The fact that consumers willingly or unwilling give up vast amounts of private data and then this data is used in a whole spectrum of ways that the user is unaware of, feels like a pretty poor model.”

Disparity between what users think and how they behave

Studies suggest privacy is a growing concern. Research by Global Web Index found that 27% of adult online users had utilised a virtual private network (VPN) to access the internet. Meanwhile, The State of Privacy Report 2015(pdf), commissioned by anti-virus company Symantec, which interviewed more than 7,000 internet users across Europe, found that 57% of people are worried their data is not safe. Meanwhile, only 14% of internet users were happy for businesses to share their data with third parties.

But the report found a disparity between what users think and how they actually behave. Just one in four users read the terms and conditions before signing up to an online service and the authors felt that many users didn’t know how to protect their data. In conclusion, the report stated: “Despite much concern about the security and privacy of data, many are unsure what to do to better protect their data … the behaviour of many Europeans is not reflected by their actions towards data protection.”

Indeed, many that work in the advertising industry are not convinced that consumers are about to embrace privacy tools. Among them is Martin McNulty, founder and CEO of digital agency Forward3D. He believes that users generally get a good deal and value their online experience. “I think that, on the whole, people want better products and advertising. No one wants to get served bad advertising,” he says. “There are also a whole range of genuine benefits to online users trusting businesses with data, which are not always as well understood as the more publicised downsides. An exchange takes place. Data is exchanged for a faster, better, more relevant experience online.”

But McNulty is concerned about the impact government legislation could have on user behaviour. With the UK government’s communications data bill being debated over the next year, he worries how this might affect his industry. “I am concerned with what the UK government is doing with the so-called ‘Snooper’s Charter’; I never thought the politics of privacy would come close to my day-to-day work of advertising. I think there’s a concern that this could get whipped up into a paranoia that could harm the advertising industry,” he says.

Demographic bias

Other agency heads say it’s crucial for the industry to understand more about the impact different kinds of privacy tools on data. Henry Lewington, CEO of digital agency Barracuda, says users of privacy tools tend to be younger and more tech savvy types. “The impact of anonymous browsing has a demographic bias,” he says. “Sites which sell products or cater for a more technically knowledgeable audience tend to see higher rates of inaccuracy within the analytics data.”

Lewington says incognito browser sessions, where no third-party cookies are attached, mean the user will be marked as a new visitor. Those using anonymous search engines (DuckDuckGo), however, may be marked as referral traffic in Google analytics. Someone using a VPN will have their location masked, whereas someone using Tor will have their computer’s configuration completely hidden. “Marketers need to understand which tool is being used to understand its impact,” says Lewington.

So far, the impact on marketing data appears to be limited. It is also likely that many are using VPNs to bypass content restrictions rather than due to concerns over privacy. Tor usage is still very low and, again, might be used for specific purposes, rather than a day-to-day search enquires. However, what the web savvy do today we may all end up doing tomorrow, particularly if the new technologies are provided in a user-friendly format.

Invisible tracking

Those who have used Tor might be aware of the anonymous browser’s search engine of choice, Disconnect.me. The software, designed by former Google engineers, is now available for mainstream users, with the company’s main product being a browser plug-in. Once installed, it acts like a VPN, but also blocks tracking requests from over 2,000 web analytics companies, social media sites and advertisers, at the same time highlighting who they are. “Disconnect allows users to block non-consensual invisible tracking that violates their privacy and puts them at risk for things like malware and identity theft,” says Casey Oppenheim, co-founder of Disconnect.me.

Oppenheim says he is not “opposed to advertising and marketing”, but says the business could make a big difference if the company’s user base continues to grow – it currently has about 10 million users. “Companies that engage in behaviour that violates user privacy and security may be harmed if our solution were to be adopted by the masses,” he says.

Certainly, there will be some battles ahead for the industry, and Disconnect.me looks set to be butting horns with the very biggest of beasts. At the time of writing, Disconnect.me had filed an anti-trust law suit in Europe against Google after it was omitted from its Play Store.

Oppenheim reckons that the battle over privacy and online anonymity is just getting going. “Privacy is definitely a battleground now, but is still small and will get much larger in the coming years. The reason is that when people find out the reality of how their privacy and security is being violated online, they really don’t like it. The people who argue for the status quo are almost invariably people who are directly making money from the status quo,” he says.

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