Leaving Data Wherever You Go

Two articles came out in the last few days that detail major companies' activities in tracking and personalizing real-time data that is being captured while you visit their establishments. Verizon is helping sports clubs  and venues learn more about attendees by connecting the dots between sponsor's messages and visits to sponsor locations afterward. By using geo-location, Verizon can identify who visited the arena, as well as where that person goes in the days following the event. Verizon will also provide segmentation analytics, reporting things such as time of day or duration of stay/visit to the business. This is particularly useful for industries that require physical interaction to conduct business, like services industries or restaurants.

Airlines are digging deeper, now investing a significant amount in connecting big data to provide cabin crews and flight staff with info about the flyers on board. By connecting frequent flier numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers, a flyer profile can now be served to the crew on board, who uses Ipads or smartphones equipped with seat maps with details of most fliers. Some details that are collected and utilized are food preferences or reasons for flying, such as a honeymoon. The device not only informs the crew but allows them to collect further information about the flyers and their habits aboard the flight.

Stories like these continue to become more common as the drive for big data grows and the fight for privacy seemingly wanes. At this point, there is no getting around that information is being collected about you whether you like it or not... unless you want to live with nothing, go nowhere, and always pay cash. While these invasive practices would have created an uproar 10 years ago, people have gotten comfortable with the idea that these things are happening. Perhaps it is because of the relative success of marketers in recent years, using data delicately and not showing off to the consumer how much the company actually knows about them. There are instances where this line gets tested, such as display ads, and it will be interesting to see the response when the flight attendant sings to you on your birthday. And certainly, efforts from Verizon and Delta and others are aimed at improving the experience (in order to make money, but still), so consumers aren't being harmed. It only remains to be seen when, or if, the consumer ever decides that companies cannot be trusted with the information they are collecting, and decides to do something about it.