The relationship between large-scale customer intelligence data collection and privacy is more complicated than it seems. From the perspective of data analytics, for example, the bigger the data warehouse the less interesting information about an individual turns out to be. Marketers want to know intimate facts about individual behaviors, but only so they can fit them into increasingly refined demographic groupings of other individuals with similar behaviors and, they hope, similar interests. The more information available about more people, it turns out, the more privacy we actually get as individuals. You really can get “lost in a crowd.”
Customer Intelligence, Privacy, and the “Creepy Factor”
Before we leap to legislation to deal with privacy issues, let’s give the market a shot.
August 15, 2012
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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to communicate with your customers—strategically.