A national ‘citizen science’ project has been launched to delve into Facebook’s use of ‘dark ads’ that target users based on detailed information collected about them online.
The Australian Ad Observatory project, is an ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) research initiative led by QUT’s Professor Daniel Angus and Professor Mark Andrejevic from Monash University and aims to provide accountability and transparency around Facebook’s use of advertising.
To find out how they are being targeted participants can install an extension on their laptop or desktop Web browser that collects all the ads they see when they go on Facebook. Users will gain an understanding of the pattern of the ads and an idea of whether they are being targeted for particular types of products or services.
