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As technology grows, consumer privacy goes
What level of privacy does the average citizen have or, for that matter, expect?
Go into a store and cameras record your movements as part of the store's anti-shoplifting campaign. But maybe other cameras follow you to see what displays attract more customers.
Shoppers buy goods and soon find that coupons are sent to them via mail or the Internet with offers for the favorite products.
Some Internet companies use spy bots to track online habits and discover your preferences regarding a variety of goods.
Other large sites record your every purchase and make recommendations for other products you might be interested in buying in the future.
Being able to identify brand loyalty by consumers helps retailers and others focus their marketing efforts. But all these data collection techniques - information that is now part of "your" file - are not necessarily protected. In fact, perhaps the data gets sold and passed along to many others who might be interested in your file for issues other than your buying habits.
A recent story in the New York Times stated we're at the point of losing track of just how many entities are tracking us. Not to mention what they do with our personal information, how they are storing it, who they might be selling our dossiers to and, yes, how much money they are making from these databases.
In earlier days, informed consent - an opt-in policy - was usually necessary before your behavior could be monitored and tracked. But these days, that notion has disappeared. And there is no opt-in, as in the case of the store camera, where you really don't even know if your actions are being mined by data collectors.
The Times story also reported the Federal Trade Commission has "brought several dozen complaints against companies about possibly deceptive or unfair data collection and nearly 30 complaints over data security issues."
And while the FTC has issued guidelines for Web-based advertising, that is just what they are, guidelines.
Another area of concern is the use of data collection by those who respond to mobile ads or who use their cell phones to react to an offer. These mobile dossiers are often compiled and sold off to third-party database collectors.
In any case, the need to have your data file "secure" is a necessary one in our eyes. As is the need for you to be able to find out just what information a company has collected about you.
The Times article says by early fall, the FTC plans to propose comprehensive new privacy guidelines intended to provide greater tools for transparency and better consumer control of personal information.
With the explosive growth of technology, we say the sooner these rules are vetted and put into place, the better.
Go into a store and cameras record your movements as part of the store's anti-shoplifting campaign. But maybe other cameras follow you to see what displays attract more customers.
Shoppers buy goods and soon find that coupons are sent to them via mail or the Internet with offers for the favorite products.
Some Internet companies use spy bots to track online habits and discover your preferences regarding a variety of goods.
Other large sites record your every purchase and make recommendations for other products you might be interested in buying in the future.
Being able to identify brand loyalty by consumers helps retailers and others focus their marketing efforts. But all these data collection techniques - information that is now part of "your" file - are not necessarily protected. In fact, perhaps the data gets sold and passed along to many others who might be interested in your file for issues other than your buying habits.
A recent story in the New York Times stated we're at the point of losing track of just how many entities are tracking us. Not to mention what they do with our personal information, how they are storing it, who they might be selling our dossiers to and, yes, how much money they are making from these databases.
In earlier days, informed consent - an opt-in policy - was usually necessary before your behavior could be monitored and tracked. But these days, that notion has disappeared. And there is no opt-in, as in the case of the store camera, where you really don't even know if your actions are being mined by data collectors.
The Times story also reported the Federal Trade Commission has "brought several dozen complaints against companies about possibly deceptive or unfair data collection and nearly 30 complaints over data security issues."
And while the FTC has issued guidelines for Web-based advertising, that is just what they are, guidelines.
Another area of concern is the use of data collection by those who respond to mobile ads or who use their cell phones to react to an offer. These mobile dossiers are often compiled and sold off to third-party database collectors.
In any case, the need to have your data file "secure" is a necessary one in our eyes. As is the need for you to be able to find out just what information a company has collected about you.
The Times article says by early fall, the FTC plans to propose comprehensive new privacy guidelines intended to provide greater tools for transparency and better consumer control of personal information.
With the explosive growth of technology, we say the sooner these rules are vetted and put into place, the better.
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