Privacy is not the same as secrecy. In fact, privacy done right does not restrict the flow of information between parties; it enables the free flow of information between two parties who trust each other. I wish I could take credit for this bit of wisdom, but it comes from Evan Hendricks, the editor and publisher of Privacy Times, who spoke at the Marcus Evans Wireless Intelligent Networking conference last week in Denver. Hendricks noted how confidentiality policies between people permit patients to talk honestly with their doctors, clients with their lawyers, and parishioners with clergy.
Here are some equally simple and yet profound statements on privacy:
People will reveal the most intimate details about themselves if they trust the other party, so noted Marc LeMaitre of Onename.
In an increasingly complex world, people must trust others all the time, said Bill Washburn, managing director of XNS ORG, and ethics and policy Ph.D. We get on airplanes all the time and trust that strangers will deliver us safely to our destinations. We go to hospitals and take medications from doctors and nurses we don’t know.
A multimillion-dollar lottery winner recently entrusted his winning ticket to the U.S. Postal Service!
What does that mean to wireless?
Everything. The wireless data evolution is betting big on the wireless convergence of information and mobility. But people are not going to want their location revealed, or their demographics known, unless they trust the entity (most likely the carrier) that marries the location with the demographics. The simplistic “wireless users must opt in” doesn’t seem to be the overarching panacea some believe it is. Do you opt-in once and that’s it, or do you have to opt-in every time? If I say I am willing to receive information related to my cat, and then my cat dies, how do I get off the list?
The details may be difficult to work out, but they are not insurmountable. A number of ways have been suggested recently to handle privacy. Some seem complicated, some don’t. For example, a device could blink red for information the business plans to share, or green for information that will remain private; carriers could choose to enter business relationships only with other businesses that share the same view of privacy; carriers could gather information and simply delete it from their databases five seconds later.
Rather than treating privacy issues like a threat, privacy should be a welcome opportunity for wireless carriers. CTIA has said in its privacy statement that it will protect a person’s privacy. Carriers should embrace that policy. Customers will follow. It’s about trust. And in this case, trust may mean revenue.
