Privacy is a marketing issue

In an earlier life I was responsible for raising awareness for consumers’ privacy rights for a division of TRW that maintained real property files.  The focus was on identifying high-risk areas where information we sold or distributed might be used in a way that a consumer would be disadvantaged or threatened, thereby jeopardizing our access to data and creating brand risk for the company.

It was said that the division’s general counsel was informed by the company president that, if the company's name appeared in a headline relating to a privacy incident, he’d be out of a job. That necessarily made all executives in the company disciples on the privacy issue.

A component of our current practice involves working with clients to help them understand and risk-protect their businesses on the subject of privacy.  We advise them to treat privacy as a marketing issue, not as a compliance issue.  That is, in today’s marketplace, trust is the cornerstone of any healthy business relationship.  Mis-use of information that a customer relays to you (for example, via a Web form or by virtue of how they access your services) diminishes that trust and jeopardizes the relationship.

 

Treating privacy as a marketing issue is a powerful construct.  The perspective changes, from “what does it take to comply with our privacy policy?” to “how would our customers react if they new what we were doing with their information?”  Your customer becomes a de facto participant (albeit imaginary) in any product or marketing strategy discussion.

It will also alter the look and feel of privacy disclosures you're obligated to provide consumers. What is generally unreadable today will become more succinct, explicit and consumer-friendly.

I learned long ago from a former mentor in privacy, Marty Abrams, that what consumers find most annoying about mis-use of information centers on the element of surprise: information provided by a consumer for one purpose suddenly turned up in a different application.

Judging by how willing we are these days to spill our guts using social media, I suspect privacy is becoming less of a concern for the mainstream.  My gut tells me that we’re headed for a backlash; at some point, great hordes of today’s consumers are going to feel pangs of regret at having unleashed volumes of intimate detail about themselves over the Internet.  Will that result in greater regulation of information under the guise of consumer protection?  I’m not so sure.

Regardless… stay close to the privacy issue, look at information use from the perspective of your customer, and don’t blindside your audience with information you may hold about them.