Consumer Privacy, Where Do You Draw the Line?

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In this unique digital age, consumer privacy is more relevant than ever. For decades consumers have put up with the junk mail that fills out mailbox. We got used to that and threw away what wasn’t relevant to us. We then entered the era of computers and everyone had at least one email address. I know I have five right now! Every time we give out our email address, we set ourselves up for junk email in the form of Spam. They say that the response rate is really high for SPAM, however, I think these statistics are warped, I know I have to “open” an email just to delete it. I can also think of a number of times I have accidentally clicked on a link.

Our telephones, until recently, have been a form of annoyance when telemarketers call during dinner or at 10pm on a Sunday night. The Do Not Call Registry came out a few years ago an now we live in peace, at least with our phone. O, but then we got cell phones and now I have to pay for every incoming advertisement that makes it’s way to my inbox. This type of advertising does not sit well with me. Why should I pay for someone to advertise to me? Also, with my cell phone, they are now talking about using the GPS device on my cell phone to send me messages and ads that are relevant to where I am physically located. So now my advertisers know where I am.

Now, companies like DoubleClick want to track where I go on websites, what I purchase, and what I say online to others. They take the information I have given in various locations and combine it with other databases and create an in depth profile on me and my behavior. Due to the backlash, DoubleClick is no longer considering this database. Apprarently, even if you just go on a website that has their web tracking software, you would have been tracked without knowing it.

The web tracking is not only on internet sites but on social networks too like Twitter and Facebook. Jonathan Fields wrote in his blog about an experience with JetBlue. He saw William Shatner getting onto a JetBlue plane and he made a post about it on Twitter. Within a few minutes he gets and email from a JetBlue employee making a joke that JetBlue was on Priceline afterall. This creepd Jonathan out that he was being tracked on Twitter by JetBlue. After a few emails back and forth with the employee, he found out the employee was trying to connect with today’s consumer through social networks. Mot people thought this was cool, others thought it was creepy.

Companies today have a lot of information available to them about their consumers, they need to respect their consumers and give them a little space. Some of the above practices are either unethical or borderline unethical. I anticipate that next we will all have GPS devices tracking everything we look at and everywhere we go. I will look at a sweater and instantly an ad will pop up in my eyeball or something like that.

For further reading on these topics:

Teaching Temperance to the “Cookie Monster”: Ethical Challenges to Data Mining and Direct Marketing

Is JetBlue using Twitter to Spy on its Customers… or Blow their Minds?

In this Data-Mining Society, Privacy Advocates Shudder.

Social Networking, Data Mining, Media and Privacy.

Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers.