So What's Worth More to an Internet Company: Your Data or Your Trust?

            Good news! The New York Times reports that Internet-based companies are increasingly urging each other to develop privacy friendly policies for their users. The Times points to a number of causes as the impetuses behind this movement. Gaining a competitive edge in the market is identified as one motivator, along with web platforms increasingly setting limitations on other companies with which they do business (e.g., Apple requiring applications that use its operating system to garner the consent of its users prior to tracking their locations) and heightened pressure from users seeking privacy in their technology use. Other industry insiders speculate that the push towards enhanced security measures marks resistance toward government regulation.   At last week’s RSA Conference, a premiere information-security forum attended by global IT professionals, Brendon Lynch, chief privacy officer at Microsoft,  remarked that companies like his have come to appreciate the “market forces at play with privacy.” Joel R. Reidenberg, a professor at Fordham Law School, commented that Microsoft has completely redefined their approach to privacy, highlighting its newfound emphasis on computer security in their recent ad campaign against Google in which it proclaims that Gmail users are being “scroogled.” Google, of course, vehemently denies this notion. On a somewhat related note, my Google search for Google’s response to the campaign returned a result that explores whether Microsoft could be liable for trademark infringement. The author of this post believes that though Microsoft is walking a thin line, ultimately, the ads are legal. 

            Despite the push to intensify security protections, the Times reports that advertisers have openly admitted their refusal to stop tracking users just because they select the “Do Not Track” option provided by their browser. “Facebook has said it needs more clarity on whether a Do Not Track signal applies, for instance, to social plug-ins like the Facebook ‘like’ button, which is integrated into millions of Web sites.” However, Mozilla (producer of the Firefox browser) reports that already 12 percent of desktop users and 14 percent of mobile users have opted to utilize the Do Not Track preference. “They’re asking for a different level of privacy on your service. . . You have to listen to that. It’s critical to your business,” stated Alex Fowler, Mozilla’s chief privacy officer. So are companies finally going to recognize the wants of its users and transform those desires into something concrete? Maybe. “There’s enough market traction and momentum from the consumer side and the business side to drive this forward,”   Forrester analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo said. Forrester reported that one in three consumers are concerned about companies retaining their behavioral data and that 40 percent abstained from an online purchase due to security apprehensions this past year. Personally, I cleared the cookies on my browser for the first time since the start of law school last week and afterwards had to visit the technology center so that they could reconfigure my wireless printing. It’s safe to say that Internet security has been on my mind as of late. 

            So is it problematic that companies are improving their privacy policies in an effort to “one up” each other? Or is this to be expected in an industry driven by rivalry and competitive dynamics? If the upshot is more stringent protection for consumers, then I’m supportive. Alternatively, government regulation is an option, but I’m skeptical of comprehensive regulation coming to fruition in the near future. While the availability of the Do Not Track button is a start, its effectiveness remains to be seen. Moreover, a single Do Not Track button without a wider, more comprehensive security policy isn’t going to create the increased protection this article claims the public is seeking.