Lawyers, Lobbyists, and Geeks, Oh My!

There have been a number of recent studies indicating consumers willingness to give up privacy if they feel the benefits outweigh the risks, but the conclusion of these studies is that ultimately consumers should be responsible for making that choice. So here’s the problem; privacy has complex, intertwined dynamics on the business, technology, and regulatory sides. Even full-time experts have trouble sorting through the issues, and consumers are expected to make an informed, rational decision? Yeah, right.

Let’s not kid ourselves; consumers are NOT going to make a decision that reduces their privacy across the board. Why not? Because the only sound they hear is the shrill scream of the privatistas who clamor that under no circumstances should privacy be broached. The only ones who can influence consumers to allow better access to targeting data are the content and service providers, and their approach has been to put their company privacy policies in disclaimers (“hey, the information is there, they just have to read it”). Again, yeah, right.

Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Ask a well-targeted consumer (if you can find one), and you’ll be surprised by the answer. There are people out there who go on-line (often to the same destination over and over), almost immediately find what they’re looking for, and as a result continue a relationship that is satisfying to them and profitable for the vendor. This type of dynamic tends to be site or service specific, and is the result of a long, positive history of interaction that creates trust. This dynamic is what needs to lead the charge on the privacy/targeting trade-off conundrum; vendors need to take their head out of the ground and realize no one will believe them when they claim to have the consumers best interest at heart. A genuine, grass-roots movement addressing the benefits of targeting, lead by consumers, needs to be developed to counter-balance the privacy-at- all-costs movement. The beneficiaries of this effort (the vendors) need to move on this quickly; they should all know which of their customers are likely to step up. This battle needs to be taken out of the hands of lawyers, lobbyists, and geeks, and be driven by the people who are actually affected.