If the program works, it could help persuade merchants to boost their digital marketing budgets.
The data add to the digital dossiers that Google has compiled on users of its search engine and other services, including Gmail, YouTube and Android.
Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice president of ads and commerce, said the new tracking system was created in consultation with “incredibly smart people” to ensure it’s not invasive. He described the program as “secure and privacy safe.”
But Ponemon said that even if Google has good intentions now, companies and governments in the future might not.
The kinds of data that Google is collecting also could become an inviting target for hackers, said Miro Copic, a marketing professor at San Diego State University.
“The privacy implications of this are pretty massive, so Google needs to tread very carefully,” Copic said.
GOOGLE’S OPPORTUNITY
Google already runs the world’s biggest online ad network, one that raked in $79 billion in revenue last year. That puts it in the best position to capture any additional marketing dollars spent on computers and mobile devices.
