This past week revealed trends on where privacy is really dead in this digital age. Google announced its changes to term of use to allow your photo to show up in ads. If you shared about your love for the shoe store in your neighborhood, your picture may start showing up for reviews as people (may be just your friends). On the other hand, facebook announced its decision to drop a feature which allows people to hide themselves when others search for their names.
It is increasingly difficult to remain anonymous online or even just hard to reach. People can say that you can just refuse to use google or facebook. Is it possible? Imagine looking for information without any search engine. Imagine trying to share pictures and comments with your friends via snail mail. The price we pay to enjoy services is getting steeper and steeper. The worst thing is that we do not have a choice. You either accept the term of use or not. There is no negotiation around it.
In a winner-take-all market, the consumers do not have much choice to choose a competitor who would give us different value propositions. Currently there is no choice to get a privacy-enhanced google account or facebook account. It is unclear the disappearing privacy is a good thing or a bad thing in the long run. But the trend is clear.
Inspirations:
Google plus:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-to-put-user-photos-comments-in-online-ad-endorsements/2013/10/11/322e483e-3289-11e3-8627-c5d7de0a046b_story.html
Facebook change:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/facebook-privacy-users-should-check-these-settings-as-new-changes-roll-out/2013/10/11/4a3ef4e2-3274-11e3-89ae-16e186e117d8_story.html
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