For many, life without Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms is almost unthinkable. These social networks are heavily integrated in to everyday life and the amount of personal information revealed has never been greater than now.
Some of the shared information may seem insignificant, such as what the person had to eat or who he was with, while other tid-bits may reveal more, like a significant other or the user’s location. While all of this is taking place, demands for protection of personal data has grown exponentially.
So, what gives? How can we demand greater privacy protection while at the same time publicly sharing so much of our personal lives?
It sounds like a classic paradox, but it’s not. Wanting greater privacy protection isn’t as philosophically inconsistent with sharing more personal information through social media as it may appear. This is because the issue isn’t really about privacy or sharing. Instead, the issue is about control, specifically user control.
What we as individuals, business owners, and those who run organizations want is to be able to control what about us is kept private versus what we make public. And, of course, to whom. It’s more than just checking a list of pre-determined choices in those privacy notices we get. It’s about user determination and customization.
Businesses that don’t understand this can have significant customer and public relations issues. One example of such issues is the security breach involving the Ashley Madison website, which took place in 2015. The New York Times reported that the information of 37 million members had been stolen. In addition, the hackers threatened to disclose the real names, passwords and financial data of the consumers. For sites like this, and many others that don’t have such a nefarious user base, existence and growth are dependent on knowing identities and financials are secure. Even the slightest violation of privacy can generate angst for the site users, thus leading to angst for the website’s corporate parent.
A more recent example is the Yahoo security breach. According to CNN tech, in December 2016 Yahoo revealed a security breach that affected at least five million accounts. It was announced that personal information and passwords had been stolen while financial information was not. However, the incident made headlines across the country proving to be a public relations nightmare for the company and resulted in Yahoo’s stock falling 2.5 percent just hours later.
Lastly, we can't forget the Target security breach which The Washington Post reported to be one of the worst ever. The disastrous breach brought about state and federal level investigations, provoked a number of class-action lawsuits and severly damaged Target’s bottom line and reputation.
What can we take away from all of this? We must insist that businesses and other organizations recognize the shift that has occurred in the privacy debate. No longer are we concerned about what we as users share or don’t share. Rather the issue at hand focuses on user determination and user control. Companies that address this will not only avoid the public relations torment that results when they don’t get it right, but can also benefit by increasing customer satisfaction and customer reach.
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