For a number of years I’ve been using IMDB, the Internet Movie Database (owned by Amazon) when I was curious about a particular artist, film, piece of trivia, random information. While often a useful tool, more often than not it’s a accomplishment sucking, cross-referencing time vacuum not unlike YouTube.
There are ads on the site, usually for theatrical coming attractions or upcoming DVD releases. But, tonight after finding an obscure Campbell Scott film on cable, I looked the actor up and noticed something curious. No, not his age or spouse or career choices, but rather a banner ad for “Earth’s Best Organic”. If you’ve never heard of them, they’re the folks that make the baby formula that my wife’s been using for our ten month old. Until recently.
We had been buying it at Whole Foods and lately it appears that Whole Foods only seems to have its own brand stocked, so we’ve been grabbing that instead.
Anyway, when I click the “Earth’s Best” ad on IMDB, it takes me right to the Amazon page where I can order it directly. How convenient! We’re not even out of the other stuff yet, I wasn’t even thinking about baby formula – I was thinking about Singles and perhaps Roger Dodger and…
Wait just a minute.
I’ve never ordered formula from Amazon. Some wipes and diapers, but never formula. But I wasn’t on the Amazon site, but just another site that they owned and I’ve never seen an ad for such a random product on IMDB. Besides, I wasn’t even logged into IMDB or Amazon. Hmmm, I thought I’d cleaned my cookies, my history – at least as far as I know.
I’m being tracked! Followed. I’ve heard about this. Been suspecting it for quite some time. Certainly when you don’t clear your cookies and history. I even had “private browsing” clicked. Or at least I think I did.
Now seeing the ad might have just been a random coincidence. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not. And what’s more frightening is the possibility that that ad didn’t come up as a simple result of cookies on my computer but perhaps something even more insidious – if there is such a thing.
Yes, I have a gnawing presentiment that I’m being watched. We all are. Privacy is dead, but it’s demise is old news, like common sense’s age old obit. And now we’re swimming kneck deep in the post mortem of those two funerals. Whether the folks hocking the baby formula have eyes on me or not, in some small way – perhaps even large, it’s hard to make a move without Someone having their eyes on you. From GPS, to the cookies, to organic baby formula. So the question becomes, as this relatively new practice continues to grow and evolve, as we become ok with this, does paranoia eventually just pass away too?
Afterall, it’s only paranoia if people aren’t after you.
C I P R I A N I 
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