Last night (3/9/14) I watched, How to Defend Your Privacy Online, a story broadcast on the 60 Minutes TV show. I downloaded the App that was mentioned in this story, called Disconnect. Maybe more on that later.
I have known for many years about data mining and how it could be used by businesses to target their marketing efforts. It's quite a challenge to balance that kind of availability with the expectation that we all have to a certain amount of privacy. It was very interesting to see all the ways our personal data is collected, but it really doesn't show much about how businesses use the information.
Government 'snooping' has been a hot topic in the news lately. If this data is readily available for any business to purchase, then should the same data also be available for a government entity to have access to, especially with respect to national security issues? Maybe I'm a little naive, but I guess I'm OK with that. I have a reasonable expectation though that whatever I buy online from Staples doesn't put me on some security watch list or that my daughter watching the Youtube video Let it Go! as she belts along the lyrics for the 100th time has me a marked man. I'm cautious, but not too worried about it.
I have been a member of our local fire department for 12 years now. For many years we have had a dance as a fundraiser. For years, many people would buy tickets for the dance even if they did not show up because they understood that the funds would go towards to a valuable, local cause. Many individuals would kick in much more than the $6 ticket, often into the hundreds of dollars, and do that every year. We had the challenge of effectively reaching the 'target' audience, which were the people that we serve, those that live in the Osage Fire District. It includes the City of Osage, Iowa and surrounding rural area and communities. For many years, the department used other entities to come up with a mailing list for the city and another list for the rural areas. Every year, many dollars in postage were wasted on duplicate or inaccurate addresses. I convinced the department to buy a mailing list that just included the physical addresses in the fire district, but did not include the names. It was actually for the entire county, but we thinned it out to just our 'customers.' We have been using it for about 10 years with incredible success. Names are not included so we do not have to worry about keeping personal information. If someone moves out, there is generally someone moving in. The only thing we are missing are the new homes in the area and any of those old homes that have been razed.
I would consider this mailing a form of data mining. It did cost some money, but was certainly easier than copying all of the addresses out of the phone book, going door to door, or having the firemen attempt to sell the tickets to 'everyone' they knew in their daily routine. It gets our 'message' out the our target audience. It's a different kind of marketing contact than a face-to-face sell or over the phone. Not everyone buys tickets, but that's OK. We do know that it's very easy to drop those mailing right into the recycling pile. It has made for a very good fundraising campaign, though, and for a very worthy cause.
Any legitimate business will have a rationale for marketing using the best dollars they have. It's about making a buck, which they should have a fair shot at. If it helps me as a consumer, I'm all for it. However, not at the risk of losing my identity or that of my wife or kids or those close to me. I guess I could avoid all of it and try to disconnect myself. Hmm. I don't think I could.
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