While aimlessly strolling through the aisles of Target this past Saturday, I came across the most adorable sweatsuit. It was hot pink, with the word “Poppi” emblazoned on the front in yellow bubble letters. I was immediately hooked. I grabbed the crewneck and its matching sweatpants and darted into the dressing room, eager to try on the trendy set. As soon as I put it on, I was in love with how soft the material was, how cute the crew neck and sweatpants looked together, and the idea of how cozy I would feel wearing it to school in the middle of the frigid Indiana winter. I was ecstatic to make it mine. 

Then, in a moment of clarity, I realized that buying and wearing the sweatsuit would turn me into a walking advertisement for a brand that I frankly knew nothing about. The Poppi sweatsuit wasn’t just a cute outfit – it was a reminder of how pervasive and targeted advertisements have become.

In the modern world, advertisements have become inescapable. They’re in the paper. They’re on the news. They’re in the TikToks of your favorite influencer. They play before every YouTube video, air before every Super Bowl, preview before any movie played on Amazon Prime. They are everywhere, in everything, all the time. The omnipresence of advertisements and their über-specific role in our lives makes it crucial to consider how they affect our decisions and privacy.

Firstly, we have to understand the algorithms that are used to deliver us specific ads. Websites and social media platforms track data through cookies, analytics and user interactions to gather insights about visitors’ behavior, preferences and online activities. This information is then used to build user profiles, allowing websites and advertisers to deliver personalized, targeted ads based on a user’s browsing history. By analyzing patterns, they can tailor advertisements to make them more relevant, increasing the chances of user engagement.

This technology can help to improve the user experience, but it also raises privacy concerns about how user’s personal data is collected and used without their explicit consent. While there is very little to be done to protect your online activity from being monitored and manipulated, there are a few measures you can take today in order to prevent apps from tracking your data without your approval.

For iPhones, open your settings, go to Privacy and Security, select the Microphone icon, and toggle off microphone access for apps that don’t need it. For Androids, open Settings, select Apps, choose a specific app from the list, select Permissions, and turn off microphone access. Additional measures you can take include installing a VPN, or a Virtual Private Network, on your device, which encrypts your data and hides your IP address, helping your information stay private online. Although these aren’t all the ways to stay safe online, they’re certainly starting points toward keeping your data protected and reducing the risk of having your information stolen online. 

The Poppi sweatsuit wasn’t just a piece of clothing – it was a reminder that the choices we make – even about something as trivial as what we wear – are often influenced by invisible forces. The Poppi sweatsuit was a chance encounter in my own life which inspired me to dive deeper into the world of online data collection and advertisement. However, exploration doesn’t stop there. If you believe something is interesting, odd or perplexing, find out why. Let your curiosity lead you to learn more about the world around you, or, in my case, about a world I didn’t even know existed. You never know what adventures might result from simply asking “Why?”.