• Southern New Hampshire University

• COM 225

 Rockefeller Foundation- 1920’s & 1930’s set groundwork for communication research through its funding.; impacted the direction that communication research took; took shape of persuasion studies, since it involved mass media channel of radio; studies looked toward analyzing radio content, data demographics of radio audiences, and synthesizing of said information to begin the evaluation of if and how mass media impacted (operated to persuade) audiences; utilized to influence the creation of federal communication regulations and policies Reading: Marketers, Data Collection & the E-Word Ethics Behavioral ad targeting Biometric information to Apple; iRobot maps your house; auto insurance put trackers in cars to save money; alexa & Google Home invite unseen and unexamined people & algorithms into home to listen to every word; 79% of websites globally track your info and share w/other companies Cambridge Analytica’s psychographic targeting demonstrates how companies can psychoanalyze us and craft intentionally manipulative messages at massive scale. Habits, interests, demographics, physical biological, psychological & emotional characteristics are all for sale European Union-data & privacy protections in place for years and now as the EU General Data Protection Regulation for all businesses that offer goods & services to people of the EU GDPS strict requirements about obtaining clear consent to collect or process any personally identifiable data and significant fines for companies in breach of rules US has so cohesive and comprehensive set of laws or regulations at federal level HIPAA covers medical protections but only in specific contexts like doctors, pharmacies and ins companies; silent on any medical or health info you reveal on Facebook, fitness tracker, or DNA ancestry test; No single law regulates data collection or use in US 3 Discussions to Have: Accountability: should you or your company have any responsibility for any of info you collect? Exploitation: If you figure out how to id people at imminent risk of heart failure bad on social media activity or typing speed, would you use that to save their lives or to make a billion dollars? Both? Do you have the right? What is discovered way to take Roomba mapped houses and use that info to sell each customer additional smoke detector or cable box or Alexa? What if you just want to sell targeted ads for new furniture? What if data reveals people’s vulnerabilities-do you prey on that? Transparency: Should customers know what info we collect & how we use it? Should they have a say in that relationship?