When trying to explain why it is dangerous to be careless with personal data, many people (including myself) often use the argument that evil corporations will use that data to send or show you advertisements tailored to your interests. Is that really an example of bad things that result from privacy breaches? Is it even a valid argument that you want to avoid getting personalized ads?
I know that this argument has never helped me convince anyone of the value of privacy. More likely has it damaged my credibility, because nobody saw the problem and concluded that my standpoint was pitifully weak.
Personalized ads are not evil per se. Ads are annoying, that’s for sure, but they are annoying because they interrupt you, not because of their contents. In fact, the ads annoying me the most are so not tailored to my interests. In theory, more targeted ads should even reduce the overall volume of advertising, as targeted ads are assumed to be more effective. (As an aside however, I like Seth Godin’s idea of permission marketing a lot better. In the long run this would be an advantage for both customers and those who want to sell something.)
Targeted ads seem creepy to privacy proponents, because they are a symptom of someone knowing more about you than you thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that targeted advertising is a good thing. But the problem are not the ads themselves.
Privacy is a difficult subject. Here are some good arguments by Bruce Schneier and Daniel Solove. Arguing in favor of privacy is rather unpopular, we should not weaken our point of view even further by weak arguments.
