UK Government Increasingly Uses Targeted Ads To Influence Behavior - Reports

UK Government Increasingly Uses Targeted Ads to Influence Behavior - Reports

National and local governments in the UK are resorting to targeted adverts on search engines and social media to influence behavior, the Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing a study conducted by the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR).

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) National and local governments in the UK are resorting to targeted adverts on search engines and social media to influence behavior, the Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing a study conducted by the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR).

According to the news outlet, learning the way people approach decisions and using those insights to design policy the practice known as "nudging" in policymaking coupled with online ad platforms created an opportunity for this new kind of "influence government."

The journey to this type of government was reported to have started under the�David Cameron administration when he founded the Behavioral Insight Team tasked with applying behavioral science to public policy.

In some instances, the research center revealed where officers under the "Cyber-Prevent" program of the anti-crime agency, which involves identifying young people at risk of becoming involved in cybercrime, would visit teens' homes and try to work with their parents to steer them to a different life path.

However, as part of the program, the agency collects a significant amount of data about the young people it meets, which may be used to create profiles of "at-risk" teens. These profiles may then be used to formulate an "influence policing" campaign directed at UK teens who are interested in gaming and who use Google to look for certain cybercrime services, the media reported.

The researchers, as cited in the newspaper, warned that the rise of "influence government" could cause harm. According to them, it encourages agencies to be reckless with personal data, and it may also focus negative publicity on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in unproductive ways.