Download Glossary of Privacy Related Terminology

Information Literacy
Mr. Stafford
Glossary of Privacy Related Terminology
Ad network - A company that sells ads on behalf of website publishers. (What They Know. Wall Street
Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Affiliates/non-afffiliates - defines whether a company is related or unrelated to another company in
terms of ownership or control.
Aggregated information - Data combined from many individual users that can't identify anyone
personally. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Anonymous information - Facts about you that don't identify you personally, such as age group and
gender. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Beacons - Invisible software on many websites (also known as "bugs" or "pixels") that can track web
surfers' location and activities online. Some are powerful enough to know what a user types on a
particular site. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Behavioral targeting - Advertisers and websites use information about where you browse and what you
search for online to guess your interests and decide what ads to show you. It's also called interest-based
advertising or customized ads. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Big Data – huge amounts of information that is so large and complex that traditional information
management tools can’t work with them. In the world of commerce, “big data” is a term used to label
the hundreds of new companies who are collecting, mining, packaging and generally trying to figure out
how to make money with this rapidly growing amount of information.
Cookie - Tiny text file put on your PC by websites or marketing firms that—depending on its purpose—
might be used simply to remember your preferences for one site, or to track you across many sites. (What
They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Data aggregation - The practice of collecting data from various sources and putting them together.
(Kleier, James. Glossary of Net Neutrality and Privacy Terminology. 21 March 2011. Web.)
Data exchange - A marketplace where advertisers bid for access to data about customers. Marketers
then use this data to target ads. For example: A Denver hotel might bid to reach people known to have
researched Denver hotels recently. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Data mining ( knowledge discovery) -The computer-assisted process of digging through and analyzing
enormous sets of data and then extracting the meaning of the data (Alexander, Doug. Data Mining, 5 October
2011. Web)
Geolocation - Using GPS or cell phone tower data to pinpoint a cell user’s location. Used for mobile
marketing, i.e. texting coupons to nearby stores. (Kleier, James. Glossary of Net Neutrality and Privacy
Terminology. 21 March 2011. Web.)
Internet Protocol (IP) address - A unique number assigned to every computer connected to the
internet. Any website you visit can know your IP address, and through that can often know your general
location.
Offline data -- Information about you that comes from sources other than the Internet. It could include
your zip code, estimated household income, the cars you own. The value of your home, or the purchases
you've made in a store. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Personally identifiable information - Data identifying you uniquely, such as your name, Social
Security number, address or credit-card information. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Privacy policy/privacy statement - A legal declaration made by an organization regarding the process,
disclose, retentions, and purge of personal information. Privacy policies and statements may also refer
to a set of rules that specify how personal data is processed and used in a computer system. (Kleier, James.
Glossary of Net Neutrality and Privacy Terminology. 21 March 2011. Web.)
Social targeting/social profiling/reputation silos/social discrimination/consumer
profiling/behavioral targeting – related terms that are used to describe activities that are used to target
advertising towards customers.
Spyware - Software that surreptitiously collects and transmits user data without explicit user knowledge
or consent. (Kleier, James. Glossary of Net Neutrality and Privacy Terminology. 21 March 2011. Web.)
Target vs. waste – two classifications that marketing agencies use to describe the value of people as
potential buyers of products or services.
Third party - A separate individual or organization other than the two principals involved.
Third-party tracking file - A cookie, beacon or other tracking technology installed on your computer
by an ad network or research firm that can track your activities across many websites. (What They Know.
Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)
Tracking company - Companies that use cookies and other tracking technology to collect online data
about you. (What They Know. Wall Street Journal. 31 July 2010. Web.)