Last week, Google announced their plans for behavioural targeting when serving up bazillions of ads each day. The approach they plan to use follows the lines of ‘if you don’t ask we won’t tell’- essentially making the detailed information that Google collects about you available if you have the inclination to review it.
While Google was both praised and cautioned by privacy advocates on their approach to how they plan to handle this delicate issue, it made me wonder – are consumers really, truly ready to a) understand, and b) take responsibility for personal privacy online?
How many of us truly understand what a ‘cookie’ is and how it’s used for targeting and delivering more relevant messaging in our ever complex online world? Have you ever tried to work out exactly what changing your privacy settings on Facebook actually affects?
A recent survey of more than 1,000 Americans indicated that 90% of consumers see privacy as a “really” or “somewhat” important issue and think that governments and consumers themselves need to be responsible for controlling the use of their online activity, even though many admitted to not viewing available privacy policies online. The article continues to point out that there is a disconnect in consumer awareness on the types and amount of data collected on them when using the internet.
Personally, I don’t wish to imagine a future online world that doesn’t allow us to filter in the types of messages we want to see – as a marketer I’m all for opening up consumer controls of the types of messages consumers wish to engage with and how they wish to engage with them. It means greater challenges for marketers, but in the long run it will also mean so many more opportunities. Further, as marketers don’t we have an obligation to promote education on such topics?
Are you ready to take responsibility for your privacy online? I’d love to hear your viewpoint…
