“AI Agents” as Force Multiplier of Tracking-Based Advertising Harm

This paper analyzes how AI agents serve as force multipliers for the existing harms of surveillance-based advertising, transforming an already problematic ecosystem into something far more invasive and discriminatory. Building on two decades of tracking-based advertising that has normalized mass data collection and behavioral profiling, AI agents now operate autonomously across multiple platforms, exponentially expanding the scope and sensitivity of data harvesting while reducing meaningful user