Hasta La Creative!

When it comes to surveillance, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden knows how to make headlines. In a video keynote at SXSW last month, he implored technologists to use encryption to “fix” the problem of government surveillance. But something quite profound was hidden in the closing minutes of his hyped speech. An audience member asked why it’s acceptable for corporations to track people, but not OK for the government to do so. Part of his answer was that tracking is okay because consumers enter into a voluntary contract with a business. In other words, if you don’t want Facebook to have your data, then don’t use Facebook.

Regardless of your feelings about Snowden, he articulated a feeling that many of us share: There’s a big difference between choosing to share our data and being monitored without our consent. We want to know what is going on (including if our data is safe and how it will be used) so we can decide to jump in — or not.

This gut desire for transparency is increasingly at odds with the reality of business today. Take retail. New technologies now allow retailers to use cell phone signals to track shoppers as they move around the store — including the aisles where they spend the most time, if they make a purchase, and how often they return to the store. Some technologies, such as iBeacon, require that a customer download a mobile app, turn on Bluetooth, accept location services and opt in so they can be tracked and receive in-store notifications.

Continue reading at AdAge.com