Facebook’s Big Brother issue
Professor George Milne of the University of Massachusetts studies online privacy and why some businesses—like Facebook—are starting to give us the creeps.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been clear that he believes we should all be open with our personal information. He put that belief into action by setting Facebook privacy defaults that were … well, less than private. (Zuckerberg obviously read Nudge, which notes that even when given choices, most of us never bother tinkering with defaults.)
But the past few months has seen a public backlash. Facebook is backpedaling, and companies are watching closely. More information means a better understanding of customers—and better marketing. Too much probing makes customers feel “creepy,” Milne says, and being branded as creepy is not good for business.
Milne’s most recent study investigates privacy issues and young adults (18–24). His findings suggest that:
- Consumers do not read privacy policies.
- Women are more concerned with privacy issues than men, but general concern is low overall.
- Women are less likely to favor tailored advertising based on their profile information.
- Men and women disclose different things. Men more readily provide contact information. Women post more preferences (e.g. movies and books). College women disclose personal information on Facebook.
- The more concern they expressed, the less people felt that their social network service (i.e., Facebook) was doing a good job protecting their privacy.
- Women are more assertive in seeking help to protect their information.
- Women perceive privacy loss to have more severe consequences than do men, which contributes to their reluctance to buy online. However, women perceive less risk when they receive recommendations from friends.
- People often lie to protect their privacy.
All of this implies that trust (or disinterest) is a default, but once that trust is rattled, the consequences can be severe.
The privacy backlash appears to be growing, but this is not just Facebook’s fault. Consider that in answer to the rising need to monitor freelance labor from a distance, oDesk created a program that takes a snapshot of somebody’s computer up to six times a minute. And that Coke Zero Facial Profiler will find your Facebook doppelganger—provided you give Coke access to your profile information and “other content.” And authorities are questioning Google co-founder Sergey Brin over personal-data screwups in Europe.
The bottom line: Whether you take advantage of this default behavior or leak personal information by mistake, customers will become more protective. If you don’t play your cards right, you will not get information, or you’ll get lied to. What to do?
• Go with the trend. Encourage and educate about privacy protection, especially with women. Recognize who they trust most—their friends, not you—and don’t fight it.
• If you use privacy defaults, make them tighter, with the option to be more open.
• Beware of ads that are too targeted. They can be perceived as infringing on privacy. Alert users when tracking their online behavior. This allows the user to opt in and is much less likely to trigger a defense.
• Keep an eye on the issue. Social norms around privacy are being tested like never before, and they are changing rapidly. Don’t assume everything is okay. Don’t let creepiness catch you unawares.
• Get permission first, keeping in mind opt-in and opt-out marketing. Opt-in requires a potential customer to self-select what she wants. For example, boxes are unchecked by default. Those who opt-in are considered more qualified potential customers, and opt-in is shown to be the most effective of the two. Opt-out means you have signed up the customer for something by default. It should only be considered with existing customers, if at all.
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Creepy Crawlers
Professor George Milne of the University of Massachusetts studies online privacy and why some businesses—like Facebook—are starting to give us the creeps.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been clear that he believes we should all be open with our personal information. He put that belief into action by setting Facebook privacy defaults that were … well, less than private. (Zuckerberg obviously read Nudge, which notes that even when given choices, most of us never bother tinkering with defaults.)
But the past few months has seen a public backlash. Facebook is backpedaling, and companies are watching closely. More information means a better understanding of customers—and better marketing. Too much probing makes customers feel “creepy,” Milne says, and being branded as creepy is not good for business.
Milne’s most recent study investigates privacy issues and young adults (18–24). His findings suggest that:
All of this implies that trust (or disinterest) is a default, but once that trust is rattled, the consequences can be severe.
The privacy backlash appears to be growing, but this is not just Facebook’s fault. Consider that in answer to the rising need to monitor freelance labor from a distance, oDesk created a program that takes a snapshot of somebody’s computer up to six times a minute. And that Coke Zero Facial Profiler will find your Facebook doppelganger—provided you give Coke access to your profile information and “other content.” And authorities are questioning Google co-founder Sergey Brin over personal-data screwups in Europe.
The bottom line: Whether you take advantage of this default behavior or leak personal information by mistake, customers will become more protective. If you don’t play your cards right, you will not get information, or you’ll get lied to. What to do?
• Go with the trend. Encourage and educate about privacy protection, especially with women. Recognize who they trust most—their friends, not you—and don’t fight it.
• If you use privacy defaults, make them tighter, with the option to be more open.
• Beware of ads that are too targeted. They can be perceived as infringing on privacy. Alert users when tracking their online behavior. This allows the user to opt in and is much less likely to trigger a defense.
• Keep an eye on the issue. Social norms around privacy are being tested like never before, and they are changing rapidly. Don’t assume everything is okay. Don’t let creepiness catch you unawares.
• Get permission first, keeping in mind opt-in and opt-out marketing. Opt-in requires a potential customer to self-select what she wants. For example, boxes are unchecked by default. Those who opt-in are considered more qualified potential customers, and opt-in is shown to be the most effective of the two. Opt-out means you have signed up the customer for something by default. It should only be considered with existing customers, if at all.