I am constantly amazed at how much
personal information can be gathered on individuals through the use of digital
mediums. Whether it is my naivety or the sheer speed at which technological
advancements are taking place, I find the amount of personal information that
is openly accessible or searchable by companies both incredible and disturbing.
I find the topic of the ethical
boundaries of data collection and understanding the fine balance of breaching
privacy versus trying to understand your consumer an extremely interesting and
difficult subject matter to understand. I am torn between what is acceptable
and what we as individuals leave ourselves exposed to when we willing choose to
participate in social media. From a business and or marketer’s perspective I can
identify with the benefits of such companies as RapLeaf. They position
themselves as providing a “more personalizable world” for their customers’
purpose. They offer a means by which companies can tailor their advertisements,
campaigns and online experiences of their users. However, the underlying
question is to what extent is information sharing appropriate and not an
invasion of privacy- whether known or known by the user. With the amount of
data RapLeaf has collected, they have been able to segment individuals into
over 400 categories. As an individual who’s demographic, internet activity and personal
interests could easily be analyzed, I am frightened that strangers have access
to my personality and interests.
I am not one that is overly active or
engaged with social media. I have never established a myspace or twitter
account and I sparingly use Facebook. As many may identify themselves as, I use
Facebook to keep up with friends, the occasional profile “stalking”, and as a
time pass. I hide my pictures and only allow a select group of people to have
access to my wall. My activity almost begs the question why I even have an account.
By taking these precautions, I hope that I am being smart about my privacy
options and taking precautions to minimize any unsolicited attention via my interaction
and exposure. However, there seems to be constant evolution of means of data collection
that I will never be able to protect myself from. As I become more and more
aware of companies like RapLeaf, I have become increasingly skeptical and
uneasy with online presence.
RapLeaf offers a service with a
tremendous amount of valuable customer insights. The degree of detailed information
that they can tap into on an individual basis can and has completely transformed
the nature of marketing. They offer analysis that allows companies to target
their key segments more efficiently. They also benefit the consumer as you are
not bombarded with non targeted advertisements and may actually be presented
with information that fits your needs and peaks your interest. When you are
satisfied do you forget that you have been tapped into?
I also find it ironic that RapLeaf
states that customers can physically opt out of their database. Shouldn’t it be
the other way around, where consumers can opt to be included in such a database
of personal information gathering? I also found it interesting that it was
mentioned that RapLeaf’s competitive advantage over its competitors is sharing
names—whether legal or not. They have an abundant amount of personal information
on their consumers at their fingertips, but the final tipping point is a name
identifier. As for the location services
data collection mentioned in the Google and Apple article, I do not feel as
though my privacy is being invaded. While these companies are gathering
information on my location for their own business development, I somehow don’t
view this as intrusive as it seems so abstract and disconnected from my daily
interactions. I also think feeling of invasion is avoided as location services
are associated with offering a positive experience. The extended services that come along with
this feature through various phone applications, is actually a handy and
convenient tool. For example, the Social Living application, through location
services, is able to tell display all the local deals that are available to me at
that time. Since I am benefiting from this feature, it seems less intrusive and
I tend to overlook what is actually taking place.
When considering these tactics I
think it’s important to take into consideration the different ages and demographics
of consumers that are effected by data collection. Each age group’s reactions
will differ significantly, as the definition of privacy has changed with the
comfort of and exposure to technology and the internet. For my parents, all of
these tracking metrics are so unfamiliar and. For millennials, we are intrigued
but may still feel invaded. Even though we have grown up with the internet, it
is still hard for us to grasp how much of our habits and interests are being
exploited.
Overall, I am still confused on how
I feel towards internet data collection agencies such as RapLeaf and location
service collection modes implemented by Google and Apple. On one hand, it doesn’t
bother me as I choose to partake in online activities and often benefit from
tailored services. On the other hand I feel as though we as consumers and engagers
should be more aware, educated and protected from such institutions.
