Sharing Customer Data ,, The good and the evil

This is refreshing: Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck in an interview with The Verge:

I have turned down, time and again, million-dollar offers to sell data that was against our sense of ethics, and I’d turn it down in a millisecond. People have offered millions of dollars. Nothing is worth violating the trust because this is a business that depends on trust. (Why Foursquare refuses to sell user data)

This is a very different approach than how Facebook and others handle our data. I suggest clicking the link above and read the entire article!!

If you want to see how bad it can be, check out this story from the LA Times:

It was a crowded primary field and Tony Evers, running for governor, was eager to win the support of officials gathered at a Wisconsin state Democratic party meeting, so the candidate did all the usual things: he read the room, he shook hands, he networked.

Then he put an electronic fence around everyone there.

The digital fence enabled Evers’ team to push ads onto the iPhones and Androids of all those attending the meeting. Not only that, but because the technology pulled the unique identification numbers off the phones, a data broker could use the digital signatures to follow the devices home. Once there, the campaign could use so-called cross-device tracking technology to find associated laptops, desktops and other devices to push even more ads. (Your phone and TV are tracking you, and political campaigns are listening in )

This is evil!!

~ Rick

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