Privacy Concerns & The Future of Online Purchasing

This article “Invasion of the Privacy Snatchers” appeared in Successmagazine.com.

Profiling. It’s an ugly word, with lots of growing negative connotation surrounding it. What does it mean? It means that your purchasing habits are being recorded, catalogued, analyzed, and used for further direct marketing efforts towards you. It’s the kind of thing that’s been going on for years, but with the advent of newer technologies and now the Internet, never before has data been amassed and dissected about us at such an incredible rate. I’m an online marketer and even I don’t like it.

What’s that?! Am I a hypocrite to my trade? No, it’s just that I value my privacy - even the principle of protecting my privacy — above all else, and don’t like the idea of a Big Brother of marketing lurking out there. Besides, I take great offense at most of the unsolicited direct marketing efforts made towards me anyway. They’re not wanted and don’t often really suit me in the first place. I feel like, “You think you know me, but you really don’t.”

With the latest hoopla surrounding the DoubleClick lawsuits and online profiling, it seems like folks are suddenly realizing that they’re being watched. Before, online privacy concerns revolved around the use of collected information - names, email and home addresses, phone numbers, credit cards, etc. Then came awareness of cookies, small pieces of data left on the hard drive of your computer that allows a site to exchange information with your computer. Now comes the realization that all of these pieces of information are coming together to create an even more dangerous monster: a database about you that probably rivals that amassed by the government on suspected terrorists.

And the plans for these kinds of databases feels like we’re all going to be under siege. Profiles that marketers claim will make their efforts better, more effective and less expensive. They’ll twist, crunch and analyze these profiles to find ways in which to market the most appropriate detergent, clothing, hobbies, etc. to you. They’ll serve up to me what they think is best for me - isn’t that a bit presumptuous?

After all, isn’t it the diversity in this world that makes us all interesting? Isn’t it the exposure to things out of the ordinary that expands us all as human beings? Didn’t our forefathers come to this great land fundamentally to enable themselves with the right to choose?!!

Maybe I’m on a soapbox here, but if I hadn’t been allowed to choose for myself those decisions I’ve made in my life, I honestly don’t think I’d be even writing you this today because my life would have taken a different path.

Think about it. Marketing is all about spheres of influence, and influence begets decision-making. I’m all for influence because it would exist whether or not it fell under the auspices of marketers - people influence one another. But if, as a result of profiling, some outsider chooses what influences I receive, what kind of ramifications is that ultimately going to have? Will children be served one set of marketing messages that their parent won’t even see? Will the less affluent never see images of things to inspire them? Will the divide between the have and the have-nots grow even greater because of these marketing influences?

The scary thing to me is that many folks don’t even seem to care, or they haven’t yet woken up to smell the coffee. They just nonchalantly go through their daily lives online, divulging all sorts of information about themselves without giving it much thought. La-te-da. It’s like, “Here I am! Every last bit about me. Now go and play with your data and tell me what you think I want to hear.”

So, how, as a marketer, do I do my job if I don’t believe in all this profiling and data collection? It’s simple - let the customer guide the data, not the data guide the customer. By that I mean that data is not a bad thing when it’s used in the right way and less en masse and anonymously than when it’s more personalized and permitted.

I kind of think of it as building a core of good friends. What starts out as an acquaintance - someone whose name and less personal information I know - grows to friend - who trusts me with some more personal information - to best friend, to whom I would tell anything and know and believe that it would be kept private. To friends and best friends I send cards, tokens of affection and funny or relevant pieces of information. And they receive it gladly because they knew that it came genuinely and heartfelt.

Alright, how the heck are you supposed to do that with thousands and millions of people on the ‘Net? Build a database, of course. Get some human intervention - yeah, it may cost you, but it will probably pay off in the long run because if the customer has developed that warm and cozy feeling with you and THEY TRUST THAT YOU’LL KEEP THEIR INFORMATION PRIVATE, you’re likely to have a much stronger retention and re-purchasing rate.

Don’t abuse the privilege of having this relationship either - don’t over-market to your customers, don’t sell their information all in the name of the almighty dollar, and don’t cross the line from gentle retailer to mass marketer. On the ‘Net, a dissatisfied customer is usually a lost customer for good, and there are just too many other sites looking for a piece of that action that you took so painstakingly long to develop.

Most of all - and this is going to sound really high and mighty, but I’m writing so I’m allowed to do this - follow that good old Golden Rule: “Do unto another what you would have him do unto you.”

© 2000 Hollis Thomases, Web Ad.vantage, Inc.

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