Pandora

I flew back to Utah on Friday night with a plane full of skiers. Seated several rows behind me were two buddies headed to Park City for 3 days of fun in the snow. One of them mentioned that he worked for Pandora. The whole plane seemed to explode with the question, "You work for Pandora?" It was as if he was a rock star. Children asked for autographs, women swooned, and men passed out business cards.

The plane was alive with chatter the whole 90-minute flight and I got to hear every word. Everyone wanted to know what the Pandora employee did. He confessed that he wasn't technical but sold advertising. He then proceeded to explain how much information they keep about their listeners. This allows them to target advertising with a laser-like focus. It was a great story for someone interested in promoting products. It was a bit concerning for someone interested in privacy.

So what information does Pandora really keep? First, they know your music interests. While that doesn't give them your exact age, it can give them a pretty good idea. For instance, I don't know a single adult that enjoys Selena Gomez. If that is on your playlist, then they can be sure you are a teenage or tween girl that has been force-fed Disney since birth.

Pandora also keeps track of your IP address, which is geographically specific. That means I must confuse them. Sometimes I am in Utah and other times, I am in California. However, it allows them to target ads for my general listening area. As I am in Utah today, I see ads for older single sites specific to the Salt Lake area. I wonder what that says about my playlist?

The information that Pandora tracks that should really bother you is their ability to go through your browser cookies and see the websites you like to visit. I frequently remove all my cookies for this very reason. While I don't visit questionable websites, I also don't feel comfortable sharing my personal interests with the world. I have a hard enough time not buying skis on a daily basis. Imagine if I was constantly bombarded with advertising about great deals. I don't think my credit cards could survive.