11.11 Special: How do shopping apps know what you want? Some hard truths...

MANILA, Philippines — Online shopping has been the most convenient option to purchase things we need and want, especially in the past two years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. And part of its convenience is because shopping apps tend to know almost exactly what we need—and want—at the right time.

Jamie Louise Jimeno, a third-year journalism student from University of Santo Tomas, usually shops with Shopee. She said she has been granted a lot of vouchers and promos on that app to keep on making purchases.

She observed that even while browsing Facebook, items she looks up on Shopee would be shown to her even when her two accounts are not linked. 

“Surprisingly, I do find things I want to buy," Jaime said. "Recently I bought rings on Lazada and Shopee because of an ad in FB (Facebook),” Jamie said.

Jade Veronique Yap shares the same experience. A third-year journalism student in UST, Jade said she has bought things through Facebook ads.

Retailers are able to gather insights consumers’ “shopping habits'' by tracking what they do online and where they are on their mobile devices by accessing website “cookies."

Browser cookies or tracking cookies are encrypted text files located in browsers to monitor all sorts of information about users, such as their browsing history and behavior, location and consumer preferences.

Advertisers generate enormous amounts of data from these third-party cookies to see what the consumer is interested in and show them ads related to their previous purchases and search history.

Cookies served

Developers claim that “cookie policy” on websites “enhance” the experience of users by serving them ads they actually want to see. Since cookies store a user’s browsing preferences and search history, data from them are sold to advertising companies which them push specific products and services to individuals on social media apps and shopping platforms.

Data expert Kalev Leetaru said online companies generate their revenues through users' data.

While online social media companies argued they do not “sell” their users’ data, Leetaru explained they still generate “majority” of their revenues through selling “hyper targeted advertising” based on packets user data.

In 2018, when Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by the members of US Congress how Facebook was able to make money from the data of 87 million people for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he said it was through advertising to sell items online.

Leetaru, the data expert, explained that people unwittingly write "Facebook a check" just by merely using the platform.

“It seems that Facebook’s account holders are not 'customers' since that would afford them a certain level of dignity and a relationship based around the company providing them a valuable service in a mutual transaction," Leetaru said.

"They are only 'people'' when it comes to public statements and in the context of extracting monetizable behaviors from them. The rest of the time, they are dehumanized through the term 'user' to remind us that we are merely data points and login accounts to Facebook, not real human beings whose lives are being exploited and monetized for its benefit,” he added. 

As you like, react or mark something your "favorite" online, platforms are better able to understand you that they are able to serve ads according to your interests.

Cookie crumbles

The European ePrivacy Directive has pushed for clear guidelines for tracking, confidentiality and monitoring online. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, for one, appeals to companies to comply to guidelines and requires them to enhance users' privacy, such as by informing them about cookies and tracking via browser pop-ups.

Despite GDPR coming into effect, there has been no consensus on whether cookie alerts have been complying with the European law.

Most users also do not read cookie policies that contain many pages and opt to click “okay” to cookie pop-ups and proceed to where they are going.