March 03, 2012

Must read Article: I'm Being Followed - How Google and 104 Other Companies Are Tracking Me on the Web (via The Atlantic)

A couple of interesting finds in this piece below: a) we should probably be able to prevent even the collection of data online (not just its use) b) anonymity means little in a world where numbers are names, too.

Read and think...

I'm Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web - Atlantic

"If a company can follow your behavior in the digital environment — an environment that potentially includes your mobile phone and television set — its claim that you are “anonymous” is meaningless. That is particularly true when firms intermittently add off-line information such as shopping patterns and the value of your house to their online data and then simply strip the name and address to make it “anonymous.” It matters little if your name is John Smith, Yesh Mispar, or 3211466. The persistence of information about you will lead firms to act based on what they know, share, and care about you, whether you know it is happening or not...."

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Mar 3, 2012 9:18:12 AM | Advertising Trends, Consumer Insights, Current Affairs, Data is the new Oil, Future of Advertising, Privacy

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The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights: Are We the Consumers, Or Are We the Product? Very interesting point below: can we expect companies that collect and 'sell' our data to advertisers to really offer a 'do no track' button when that is the deal we made to use their services in the first place?The Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights: Are We the Consumers, Or Are We the Product? - http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-23/the-consumer-privacy-bill-of-rights-are-we-the-consumers-or-are-we-the-product We’re not being honest with ourselves. And by “we” I mean consumers, those whose privacy the President, Google, and the DAA would protect. Google, Pandora, Facebook—each offers value in exchange for no money. This is not to lionize these three companies, because they’re not doing the Lord’s work out of love for mankind. They are companies, and soon all three will be answerable to shareholders. This is not a bad thing, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s not a thing. What’s important to remember in this discussion is that we are not their customers. We are their product. Or, rather, when we use their services for free, information about our habits, friends, and preferences becomes their product, which they then sell to the companies of the Digital Advertising Alliance—their customers. When we demand that they not track us, remember us, store our information, or take notice of what we like, we are in fact telling them to give us something for nothing. That’s not how business works. Gerd Leonhard CEO www.thefuturesagency.com www.twitter.com/gleonhard i.mediafuturist.com for mobile updates
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WEF's personal data ecosystem: good chart and overview Gerd Leonhard Futurist and Keynote Speaker Basel / Switzerland CEO www.thefuturesagency.com Blog: http://www.mediafuturist.com/ Founder of http://www.greenfuturist.com/ Free mobile apps: http://gerd.fm/mobilegerd The Future of Business blog http://www.futureof.biz/ Videos: http://www.youtube.com/gleonhard Public Speaking schedule: http://gerd.fm/meetgerd Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gleonhard

Gerd Leonhard

Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, some say Iconoclast | Heretic, CEO TheFuturesAgency, Visiting Prof FDC Brazil, Green Futurist

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