Chapter 22 - Big brother is irritating you

Friday, September 25 | 47 days until the conference | 318 registrationsWhen Victor entered the Crippled Horse that afternoon, Ronald started to laugh loudly.            Victor followed his gaze to the advertising screen and noticed a commercial for hair regrowth treatment. He involuntarily ran his hand over his own thin hair. He stopped and watched the whole of the subsequent ad for the new online TV channel ‘Instinct News’, before joining Ronald. Except for the two of them, the bar was completely deserted. The sound of the commercials sounded hollow in the large space.            He was just sitting down, when the door opened again and Dick came in.            ‘Look at this,’ said Ronald, and he pointed at the screen. A smiling woman appeared, praising Total Food Group’s potato chips.            Dick raised his middle finger.            ‘All personalized ads from Google,’ said Ronald.           ‘But how do they know who’s near?’ asked Victor.           Dick overheard and sighed. ‘You really are a digital illiterate, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘Your phone can always be tracked when it´s on. How else do you think you can get push notifications from Google Maps, traffic information and weather forecasts?’           ‘But they don’t know anything about me, do they?’           ‘So you think,’ answered Ronald. ‘Stella just explained it to me. All sorts of apps on your phone contain personal information about you and your preferences, and they register your location. Some apps sell such information on to advertisers, like Google’s ad company.’           ‘Is that allowed?’ Victor asked indignantly.           ‘It’s all in the app’s terms and conditions,’ growled Dick. ‘But no one reads them. Google can even link this information to your recent searches and visited websites, your Gmail inbox and your diary.’           ‘Exactly,’ said Ronald. ‘Based on that information they offer ads which should match your needs at the time.’....----Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell