What’s
the price you pay for a “free” product?
A free eBook will cost an email address.
A free coupon or gift certificate may cost 10-15 minutes filling out a
survey. What is the cost of the free use
of Gmail, YouTube, and Google Analytics?
Information. With every mouse
click, Google is collecting information about what users search for, what ads
are clicked on, what users write about, what they watch, and what apps they
like (Dickey, 2014).
The
information Google has collected from their customers has given them a
perspective of customers in regards to their online behavior. As they develop
driverless cars and Google Glass, Google aims to have a better understanding of
customers’ lives off-line as well. Their
quest to be innovative and integrated into customers’ lives has put them under
fire because of their questionable collection and utilization of customer
information.
The
controversial component with Google is whether or not the customers are aware
of what they’re “paying” for these free services. Many times privacy policies are long and
challenging to read. Sometimes
companies, such as Google, disregard their privacy settings and collect
information in ways that make their customers uncomfortable.
Google in the
News
Google
has been in the news numerous times for their questionable data collection
tactics. Many of their products and
services have woven their way into our daily lives and as they continue to do
so, more and more customers disagree with how and why their data is being
collected. Acquisitions and lawsuits
have caused customers to be wary of Google’s data collection.
Google’s
acquisition of Skybox Imaging (which includes satellites and high-resolution
imagery and videos from around the world) means that they can watch everything
in real-time. Google positioned the
acquisition of Skybox as a tool that will help keep maps and other technology
up-to-date for customers. However,
Google can also use the intelligence to determine when competing products will
be released based on shipments coming to and from their warehouses (Dickey,
2014). Being able to gain that
information about their competitors means they can gain other valuable
information from their customers. Google
hasn’t been upfront about the information they gather from customers, which has
landed them in a number of lawsuits.
In
2013, 38 states filed a lawsuit against Google for “causally scooping up
passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer
users” with their Street View mapping cars (Streitfeld, 2013).
Additionally,
Google was under scrutiny for “prying and spying” as they analyzed users’ messages
on their network and sold the byproducts to advertisers. Users that were impacted sued Google saying
that the invasion violated federal wiretap laws (Rosenfeld, 2014). The privacy accusations weren’t limited to
Google products and services.
Google
was directed to pay $17 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed that they
bypassed privacy settings in Apple’s Safari browser. Safari was set up to block third-party ad
cookies and Google found a way to get around those settings and track user
behavior without their consent (Tung, 2013).
Privacy
An
evaluation of the 50 most popular American Web sites revealed that their
privacy policies were composed of 145, 641 words and that it would take the
average internet user between 181 and 304 hours to read the privacy statements
for the Web sites that they visit each year (Moretti & Naughton, 2014). On top of that, policies may change on a
yearly basis, which means customers would have to reread that information
annually.
Privacy
information responsibility needs to be shared between the service provider and
customers. Customers need to be aware of
the privacy information prior to pressing accept and using the service. The discouraging part is that providers don’t
make the process easy for customers to understand how their data is being
used.
Providers
Providers
intentionally make it difficult for customers to understand what they’re reading. According to Moretti and Naughton (2014),
they do this for two reasons. First,
being vague and “elastic” in their language helps to protect themselves against
lawsuits and fines. The second reason is
that gathering this kind of information includes a significant financial
incentive, which results in companies making it difficult for customers to
opt-out.
Co-founder
of Disconnect (an app that blocks third-party Web sites from gathering data),
Casey Oppenheim said, “They know that if they tell people every single
way they’re collecting information and using it, then most users will share
less information, which would mean less money for them.”
Users
According
to a study by Pew, “half of Americans are worried about the amount of personal
information about them that is online” (as cited in Moretti & Naughton,
2014). However, a 2015 US Consumer
Confidence Privacy Research report found that only 23 percent of people had
read the privacy policy on a Web site or app (as cited in PR Newswire,
2015).
With
technology making peoples’ lives easier everyday, customers need to take time
to understand how companies are using their information. Web sites need to share in the responsibility
and make sure that they’re doing what they can in order to make it easy for
customers to understand the privacy policies for their sites. When customers are well informed about how
their information is used, they can better decide if continuing to use the
service at no cost is worth the company gathering their information.
My Take
Data
collection can be used to make customer lives easier and more enjoyable. Sites such as Amazon and Netflix use customer
data to make suggestions that allow customers to find new products and
shows. Google offers many
industry-leading services free of charge because the data they collect from
customers has a great deal of value. In
my opinion, customers need to be aware of the information that’s being
collected and how that information will be used. It’s valuable for customers to know the
difference between collecting data that is anonymous and data that has personal
information attached to it.
As
previously mentioned, the responsibility must be shared. I do not think it’s right for providers to
create privacy statements that customers do not have time to read and cannot
understand the language. They are not
providing customers with the information and tools necessary to be able to make
an educated decision about the tradeoff that comes with data collection. For some customers the “free” price tag on
these services might not be a greater benefit than the data that companies are
collecting.
References:
Dickey,
M. (2014, June 18) It’s time to admit the amount of information google gathers
about us is terrifying. Business Insider.
Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-information-google-is-gathering-about-us-is-terrifying-2014-6
Moretti,
M. & Naughton, M., (2014, September 5) Why privacy policies are so
inscrutable. The Atlantic. Retrieved
from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/why-privacy-policies-are-so-inscrutable/379615/
Streitfeld,
D., (2013, March 12) Google concedes that drive-by prying violated privacy. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/technology/google-pays-fine-over-street-view-privacy-breach.html?_r=0
PR
Newswire. (2015, January 28). 45 percent of americans think online privacy is
more important than national security. PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/45-percent-of-americans-think-online-privacy-is-more-important-than-national-security-300026808.html
Rosenfeld,
S., (2014, February 5) 4 ways google is destroying privacy and collecting your
data. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2014/02/05/4_ways_google_is_destroying_privacy_and_collecting_your_data_partner/
Tung, L., (2013, November 19). Google pays $17m to
settle safari cookie privacy-bypass charge. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-pays-17m-to-settle-safari-cookie-privacy-bypass-charge/
