George Washington University Law Prof. Jeffery Rosen writes for The New York Times, “As personalization becomes ubiquitous, the segmented profiles that advertisers, publishers and even presidential candidates use to define us may become more pervasive and significant than the identities we use to define ourselves.” Rosen creates two distinctive online identities for himself on different browsers, compares the ads he sees and—through data aggregator BlueKai, which sorts consumers into market segments—views their profiles. Rosen says such profiles lead to an uneven playing field for consumers but says “there is more at stake…the possibility of not only shared values but also a shared reality becomes more and more elusive.” (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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