Price Customization Software Threatens Internet Privacy

 

Online retailers were  revealed to be using price customization software which offers higher or lower prices to increase successful sales rates according to the internet browsing behaviour of unsuspecting e-shoppers. Such software identify cookies, browsing data of internet users, and track other visited websites to deduce whether the buyer has a large budget, or is in a hurry to buy. It was revealed that even Twitter posts regarding buyers’ preferences have been detected – thus invading user privacy and questioning the fairness of e-commerce. This new insight suggests that multiple buyers looking at the same item on Amazon may actually be presented with different prices depending on their browsing history and how the software customizes it. While this technique is employed in face-to-face retail, the internet isn’t the same territory. It’s an invasion of privacy for online retailers to use customer data without consent to tailor a price which varies according the customers’ background. Such behaviour is unethical due to lack of respect for customer privacy and the “fair-play” in business overall. Internet sellers are taking advantage of technology to create an environment with unstable prices fluctuations which reduce the buyer’s chances of getting a good deal.

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