Public backlash against ‘creepy’ tech
The internet was in an uproar recently about a tweet from Netflix’s official account spotlighting (and shaming) 53 of its users for watching a specific Christmas movie on 18 consecutive days.
Spotify has come under fire for running similar ads about its own users’ listening habits. Privacy advocates and consumers alike decried the marketing tactics as ‘‘creepy’’.
The ads aren’t what’s creepy, though. Reality is creepy. But we can fix it. It’s true that, generally, companies like Spotify and Netflix are collecting more and more data on consumers. But that’s not the real problem.
The real problem is a disconnect between privacy reality and privacy expectations.
The negative reaction to Netflix’s tweet and Spotify’s ads shows that the average consumer likely does not realise the sheer amount of data that such services collect on every single user.
Essentially, almost every internet-related company collects a significant amount of data on its users – from your ISP collecting browsing history (even in incognito mode) to half the apps on your phone collecting data through hidden trackers.
There are, of course, legitimate reasons companies like Netflix and Spotify collect and use large amounts of user data.
Netflix uses viewers’ watching preferences to influence development of new movies and television shows.
Spotify uses listening data in interesting ways as well, including custom playlists it recommends to users.
Using user data in novel ways is not necessarily detrimental for consumers, but we should demand that companies protect user privacy as much as possible while doing it. Ultimately, the ‘‘creepy’’ ads and tweet are not really that creepy, either, when taken into context. No particular user was named or identified. The ads do not violate any terms in either company’s privacy policy or terms of service.
This use of data in marketing also likely does not violate privacy laws and regulations, mostly because no information was personally tied to a user.
The best way to avoid the public relations backlash (or legal and financial consequences) of bad privacy decisions is to practice good privacy companywide.
In other words, if Silicon Valley firms don’t want to be called a creep, they should stop being creepy.
As technology progresses, it is likely that companies will collect increasingly large amounts of data on users.
Consumers can take simple steps to educate themselves on privacy and protect their data.
Periodically check the privacy settings for your mobile devices and turn off permissions for apps that don’t need it. (For example, many apps have location tracking turned on unnecessarily.)
Check the privacy settings for your email accounts and social media accounts. Read the privacy policies when you sign up for a new service and pressure companies to make their policies clear and understandable. To learn more, check out the many of the freely available guides on online privacy.
Being aware of how your data is being used is the first step to bridging the gap between consumer expectations of privacy and actual practice.
Empower yourself with knowledge about corporate privacy norms so you know when something is just standard data analysis (like, arguably, the ‘‘creepy’’ ads) or egregiously harmful (shoddy cybersecurity practices).
Never doubt your ability as an individual to influence the direction of the tech industry or of the law and policy decisions that affect privacy.
The public backlash against the ‘‘creepy’’ ads is just one example of the ways in which regular consumers can change the way the tech industry approaches privacy.
What’s at stake here isn’t whether Spotify or Netflix will be able to run ‘‘creepy’’ marketing campaigns in the future.
The choices companies and individuals make regarding privacy today will affect how our society understands privacy expectations in the future.
– The Washington Post