This is probably one of the meatiest posts I have read on the subject of personal data, privacy and consent. It is well researched, holistic and raises a series of critical issues that need to be resolved before we can move into the next version of the web, one that serves individuals as well as it has served business.
“From privacy is dead to privacy is the future. The point here is that not only technical developments are moving fast, but also that social standards and customer expectations are evolving.”
Commoditization of Data is the Problem, Not the Solution – Why Placing a Price Tag on Personal Information May Harm Rather Than Protect Consumer Privacy – on Future of Privacy Forum
“Commentators argue that a relatively small number of companies are disproportionately profiting from consumers’ data, and that the economic gap continues to grow between technology companies and the consumers whose data drives the profits of these companies.”
“The academic community is also proposing alternative ways to address wealth inequality [..] Though these attempts to protect, empower, and compensate consumers are commendable, the proposals to achieve these goals are actually counterproductive. The remedy is here worse than the ailment. [..] o begin to understand how our social norms should be translated to the new digital reality, we will need to take the time to understand the underlying rationales of the existing rules and translate them to the new reality. Our main point here is that that the two concepts of consumer control and wealth distribution are separate but intertwined”
Reflecting on this article and adding it to my existing set of beliefs:
- GDPR mandates ‘consent’ and non-compliance is also a result of the complexity of the personal data aftermarket being incomprehensible to the average consumer. Which has entirely compromised the consent experience. As the article quotes, “a regulatory system that relies on the concept of free choice to protect people against consequences of AI is undermined by the very technology this system aims to protect us against.”
- US privacy (e.g. CCPA) requires that companies publish a privacy policy that consumers agree to relying on market forces to move to a better collective outcome. But as all players are acquisitive of personal data, and as the prevailing model is where consumers pay with data, so the situation does not improve.
- The model of personal data as currency will only perpetuate the situation, whether consumers are being rewarded pennies for their data or tricked into a mandated consent or choice of provider. Consumers’ unions or data dividends do not resolve the problem.
- The underlying reason behind the commercialization of personal data at scale has been to gain access to consumer intent and there for demand. It has been driven by a highly competitive marketing ecosystem, made programmatic and now endowed with Artificial Intelligence to increase its effectiveness. In my mind the solution lies in replacing tracking with trusted relationships. Personal data correctly shared becomes a basis for trust.