danielknox.net

The Economist had an interesting article this week on the data deluge, in which it argued that, to help users feel like they retain control over their online data, sites need to make more data available to their users:

First, users should be given greater access to and control over the information held about them, including whom it is shared with.

I totally agree that sites should provide greater transparency with respect to tracking and data collection / storage. The Economist highlights Google which allows its users to see what information Google holds about them, and lets them delete search histories or modify the targeting of advertising.

Other sites are increasingly doing this too. For instance, I really like how the Newstogram technology has been implemented on DailyMe.com with a dedicated “My Newstogram” page which shows me what data the site is stored about me, explains how the data will and will not be used, and gives me the ability to correct the data or to opt out of tracking altogether.

Yahoo has similar functionality available through its Ad Interest Manager page (although Yahoo is either tracking a lot less about me or is not as good at determining my interests as they only have me pegged as a generic sports fan).