The amount of information that people are sharing on the internet is staggering. There are warehouses full of server farms to hold all of the data that is just people sharing their lives through comments, photos, and videos. The majority of the data is items that people deliberately post about themselves to public forums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. However, there is a lot of data that is being collected in the background that many users are not deliberately sharing. Most websites collect information about what pages people browse. If I go to visit the JCrew website, all of a sudden I start seeing ads for JCrew on every website that I vist. I think it is possible for marketers to collect data ethically. I have four ideas for how marketers can do so.
Keys for Marketers to Collect Data Ethically
Be Transparent
If you are collecting data from your users, you should make it clear to the users what data you are collecting and why you need it. Having this spelled out in your terms of service or privacy policy is a good start but probably not the complete answer. Most people will never read the terms of service or privacy policy. It would be better for you to explain what information you are collecting in a place where people will see it such as your FAQ. Having simple icons or images that explain the data collection process. Obviously, you will need to consult with a lawyer to make sure that you don't create liability by potentially having outdated or conflicting explanations on your FAQ page. By being transparent, you can make people feel better about sharing their data and prevent/reduce the creepiness factor of getting tailored results.
Only Collect What You Need
This recommendation has both practical and ethical considerations. From the practical standpoint, if you have enough users collecting data that you don't need is wasteful, it takes up space on your servers and costs you computation time and money. Also, the less data you collect, the less likely a user is going to get upset at you for violating their privacy. It also makes it easier to justify and less subject to legal action. With congress ramping up investigations into privacy concerns and information sharing right now, a little moderation may prevent you from ending up on the wrong side of the law in the future. From the ethical standpoint, taking personal information for the sake of having it is somewhat disingenuous. Which brings us to the next point...
Try to Provide Value in Exchange for the Data You Are Collecting
Foursquare needs your location data in order for it to work. All Foursquare users know that they are intentionally broadcasting their location to the public in exchange for game playing and the potential to earn discounts/freebies at local merchants. When I do a search on my phone in Yelp, it's convenient for me that Yelp finds my location by GPS so that it can help me find a restaurant in a city I've never been to before. Apps that link into my contact list so that it is easier for me to talk with my friends provide value to me Apps that link into my contact list for no apparent reason are more likely to raise my ire.
This guideline is most problematic for data providers or in other words people who make money selling your data. Those that anonymize your data, provide you some privacy protection. However from an ethical standpoint there is a question of whether it is reasonable for them to profit from your data without passing any value directly back to you. Companies like Rapleaf argue that they are providing value by selling that data to companies that can use it to provide value to you through personalization. This argument works well when it results in me consuming more interesting content online due to personalization. It doesn't work as well if companies are using it to refuse me a job based on information I shared online.
Make it Possible to Opt Out
Lastly, there needs to be the option to opt out of the data collection process even if it breaks or cripples the service that you are trying to provide. If the user truly gets value from your service they should be willing to trade some privacy for a better experience. If they don't, they probably aren't your target customer and you are wasting your time.
Infographic on Social Posting from http://visual.ly/think-you-post
