Do Consumers Really Care About Online Privacy?

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Core ConversationSaturday, March 8, 2014

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

• I work for IBM.

• I don’t speak for IBM.

• I live in Durham, North Carolina, and we have better barbecue than Texas.

• This is Abby!

A little about me (and a disclaimer)

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Thought prompt:

Is privacy online important to you?

Why?

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Consumers say one thing…

… but do another.

66% of Americans say they do not want to receive targeted ads

1, 2, 3 - Turow, King, Hoofnagle, Bleakley, Hennessy, “Americans Reject Tailored Advertising,” Annenberg School for Communication and Berkeley Law School, September 2009. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/24adco.pdf4 – TRUSTe, “TRUSTe Privacy Index.” December 2013. http://www.truste.com/us-consumer-confidence-index-2014/5 – Beales, “The Value of Behavioral Targeting,” Network Advertising Initiative, March 2010. http://www.networkadvertising.org/pdfs/NAI_Beales_Release.pdf6 – The Internet Society, “Global Internet User Survey, 2012.” 2012. http://www.internetsociety.org/surveyexplorer/key_findings

1

53% of Americans want websites they visit to offer discounts tailored to their interests 2

64% of Americans say they are less likely to vote for a political candidate who buys information about their online behavior 3

92% of U.S. internet users say they worry about privacy online

4

Behaviorally-targeted ads have 240%+ higher conversion rates5

80% of internet users do not “always” read privacy policies, and only half bother logging out

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@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Online privacy is a constant headline

“Facebook Privacy Change Is Subject of F.T.C. Inquiry” (9/11/13)http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/technology/personaltech/ftc-looking-into-facebook-privacy-policy.html

“Some Quitting Facebook As Privacy Concerns Escalate” (5/13/10)http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/13/facebook.delete.privacy/

“Google’s Data-Trove Dance: Internal Debates Over Protecting Privacy” (6/30/13)http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324170004578635812623154242

“Google Privacy Missteps A Boon For Rivals” (2/24/12)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/google-privacy-policy-private-data_n_1297672.html

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

But consumers can’t stay away

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Social networks pale in comparison

• Google records ~1.17bn unique searchers (400% more than 2nd place)

• 425M Gmail users in 2012, growing ~37.5M per quarter. Largest in the world.

• 120M active users of Google Drive (Nov 2013)• … and it’s all free.

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Consumers have conflicting desires

1. High-quality digital services and content – for free.

2. No ads. No tracking. Anonymity (except when I choose).

Discussion Point:

Agree? Disagree?

Are these inevitably in conflict?

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Advertising has always been with us

Discussion Point:

Does it always matter what the consumer wants?

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

The world has changed

More and more of our lives are lived digitally

Via systems infinitely more measureable than ever before

The “new normal?”

Discussion Point:

How has the meaning of “privacy” changed?

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

A look ahead

@BlairReeves#PrivacyNow

Thank you for coming!

Let me know what you thought!

#PrivacyNow

@BlairReeves

My blog: BullishData.com