The myth of privacy
This AdAge article makes you think that, somehow, these companies have finally figured out how to target people online by using all of the consumer information they collect given that they are also the credit reporting agencies.
Yet, we all dutifully punch all of our lives into the likes of Facebook and Twitter without giving it a second thought. My, my. We are a bunch of hypocrites.
These guys have been using this data for years to target us in our offline lives. I go and have a baby and buy my first package of diapers. A couple of weeks later, I get coupons for diapers and a whole host of other baby-related supplies. How did they know?!?!
As an individual, our marketing data is fairly worthless. However, these companies have a treasure trove of information about the consumer, of which, they make unreasonable profits. Data, given the proper insight, can be turned into money, especially when aggregated across millions of consumers.
The capitalist in me says that these companies are providing value, not only to the businesses that they sell the data to, but to me by targeting relevant advertising to me, both online and offline.
The real capitalist in me says that I own my data and should be able to make money off of it. Unfortunately, there's no monetization mechanism for marketing data of one. Maybe Experian can buy Zynga so every time my marketing data gets used, I get virtual currency so I can virtual stuff. Wouldn't that be pure irony?
(In full disclosure, I do now work at a bastion of online advertising, so perhaps my views are now somewhat tainted.)
