Re: Consumer Privacy - is it really that big of a deal??

From: <Joel.Gehman_at_reliancedirect.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 07:25:20 -0600 (CST)

Richard:

Maybe the general concern about Internet privacy is a bit
like automated phone attendants and voicemail. In the early
days of auto attendants, it was common for people to hit #0
and reach an operator. More and more, people have realized
the automated system is quicker than trying to short circuit
the system.

Maybe ecommerce is like this too. Consumers are busy trying
to find the limits of the process. The pitfalls. The
quirks. The pros and cons. After this "storming" phase
most people will likely settle down and Internet privacy
will be ubiquitous, standardized and taken for granted --
like automated attendents and voicemail. Now, I'll talk to
an auto attendant before an operator any day. Do we need the
FTC for Internet privacy and ecommerce to evolve to this
point? Probably not.

On the otherhand, maybe the visibility of Internet privacy
is the start of something bigger. A small footnote in the
larger battle of opt-in versus opt-out. Maybe this kind of
thinking will seep into various facets of our offline lives
too. Just yesterday the Post Office left a call back slip
in my mailbox. It indicated that a piece of certified mail
had been sent to me. Only, the "sender" field on the call
back slip was conspicuously blank. Pre-Internet privacy, I
would have blindly signed for the letter and waited for it
to be deposited in my mailbox the next day. Instead, I
scribbled a note to my carrier asking who the sender was,
reserving the right to sign until later. Maybe I don't want
the letter. Whyy does the sender have the right to be
notified of my "acceptance" before I know what it is I'm
accepting? Maybe the sender should need to prove she has
the right to send something to me in the first place. After
all, it's my mailbox (never mind that it's "Property of the
US Postal Service).

I'm tired of junk mail. I'm tired of telemarketers. These
are invasions of privacy far more egregious than the risk of
spam or data collection on the Web. And what happens if
opt-in becomes the norm, instead of today's direct marketing
world of opt-out? What happens when lawmakers are
petitioned to classify junk mail as spam -- and every bit as
illegal in some states? Will there be a day when a class
action suit is brought against a telemarketer for
"spamming"? What are the practical limits of opt-in?
Mostly questions with few answers, but it seems that a shift
is occurring. Sure the customer has always been in charge,
but opt-in goes a step further -- now the prospect is in
charge. And if you can only market to prospects who opt-in,
how do you attract them in the first place so that you can
get them to opt-in?

Returning to the topic of privacy and trust, for those who
haven't read it, I highly recommend the report from Cheskin
Research + Studio Archetype simply entitled: "eCommerce
Trust Study" at: http://www.studioarchetype.com/cheskin/

Cheers,
Joel Gehman
Manager - Ecommerce Marketing
RelianceDirect.com

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Received on Fri Apr 02 1999 - 07:46:50 CST