Digital Lockers, Essay Example

Consumers are constantly being bombarded with advertisements and as they surf the Internet, they are constantly being monitored and their personal information is constantly being captured. This is all to facilitate the business of target marketing. This information is sometimes gathered by services that allow individual users to access data such as music, movies, pictures, games, videos; and businesses can access customer information, customer surfing habits, etc.

How Digital Lockers are Used

Life, as it is known today, is powered by technology and mediated through shared information and social media. Individuals and their information can be followed anywhere, which leaves room for the exploitation of data, particularly by businesses (Morozov). The world has turned into a massive technology forest of data and in a time of growing technological advancement, data must be maintained, organized and protected. This includes the collection of data on individual consumers. Until recently, this activity was indulged by businesses that collected information on all of their customers, to better target advertising at them and to cater to their personal preferences, and sometimes these companies even sell their customers’ information to other companies. An example of a company using digital locker information gathered on customers, as reported by an article in The Wall Street Journal, Staples.com charges customers different prices for the same products, based on information they gather on their customers. For instance the article shows that one customer who bought a Swingline stapler on Staples.com was shown a price of $15.79, while another customer in another neighborhood a few miles away was shown a price of $14.29 for the same stapler (Valentino-Devries, Singer-Vine and Soltani).

Consumers Using Digital Lockers to Their Advantage

Websites that offer discounts and special offers, based on geographic locations and other customer-identifying factors use digital lockers to the data to do so. Now, there is something that individual users can use to collect data on themselves – digital lockers (or personal data lockers). This is available to individuals via the services of companies that offer “secure online locations where people can gather information on themselves, including their consumption patterns—utility bills, loyalty-card statements, telephone records and so on” (Know thyself). This is a way that the individual consumer can get to know, understand and keep track of their own spending and surfing habits on the Web. In addition, this is a way that people can have more control over the privacy of their data, as well as to what extent businesses can keep track of them online.

Digital locker firms are now available to help people retrieve the same information that businesses retrieve on them for themselves. The consumers can use this information to their own benefit. For example, consumers can exchange information about their energy consumption habits and bills to price-comparison engines, or give retailers information on their spending habits for discounts or special deals. Consumers could receive benefits and savings over the course of a year equivalent to hundreds or even thousands of dollars (Know thyself).

Privacy Concerns

The Internet has made it easy for data and private information to be made available to just about anyone who has access, or the ability to gain access, to it. The private information of individuals is continually compromised and exposed in many ways. According to Morozov (The Real Privacy Prolem), this is something that modern companies could benefit from. For example, insurance companies could define cost-saving programs based on patient needs, law enforcement could use databases to identify potential criminals, welfare agencies could more easily find fraudulent behaviour, etc. However, this is something that has turned out to sometimes negatively affect individual consumers, by exposing their personal data to possible sabotage, theft and exploitation.

With the idea of privacy in mind for consumers, there are some companies that aim to help consumers manage their online data more efficiently and safely. One such company is Repuation.com. This online company offers privacy products to consumers who are concerned about how their personal information is used on the Internet. Reputation.com offers services such as removing personal information from marketing databases, as well as list broker databases. In addition, the companies personal identify management option “involves collecting data about consumers’ marketing preferences and giving them the option to share the information on a limited basis with certain companies in exchange for coupons” (Singer). With this model, participating companies get opt-in information about the customers in exchange. This type of digital locker is a win-win for both companies and consumers. What better way to ensure the privacy of consumers while allowing companies access to the information they can use to better align their marketing strategies? However, some companies may see this in a different light, as it may cut down on the opportunity to make money on customer data they wish to sell for profit.

Wrap Up

It is a fact that digital storage and locker services often cause more privacy concerns for consumers, as well as people trying to do business, such as people in the music industry. For example, digital locker services that allow people to downloand copyrighted music or other copyrighted data contributes to the piracy problem on the Internet. According to Menn, more than 3 million people download entertainment data from a digital locker called “Megaupload” every month. This is definitely a piracy and privacy issue for those affected.

It goes to show that companies can be victims of privacy issues concerning information that is accessible via digital lockers, as well as invidual consumers. However, it is a fact of which many consumers are becoming aware, and that is the Internet has turned consumer life into a surveillance economy, where information thieves, resellers and data brokers are plentiful. Many people may not realize that thousands of personal details about them have been collected and are used to target what they see in advertising on the Internet, as well as who contacts them about offers. In addition, there are companies out there that rank consumers according to how “worthy” they are for receiving discounts and pitches for premium services, etc. Even more shocking is the fact that some companies actually auction off online access to private consumer information to marketers (Singer).

Digital lockers, it seems, can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how one looks at the situation and to which entity one is referring to, as people will continuallyy use the Internet and information will continually be placed onto its platform. Nevertheless, this type of online tracking is likely not to go away any time soon, as the Internet is continually expanding and information gathering is just part of the game.

Works Cited

Know thyself. 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://www.economist.com/news/business/21568438-data-lockers-promise-help-people-profit-their-personal-information-know-thyself>.

Menn, J. Digital lockers a growing piracy concern. 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/21/us-digital-piracy-idUSTRE80K05120120121>.

Morozov, E. The Real Privacy Prolem. 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520426/the-real-privacy-problem/>.

—. To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism. PublicAffairs, 2013. Print.

Singer, N. A Vault for Taking Charge of Your Online Life. 8 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/business/company-envisions-vaults-for-personal-data.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1395932413-e/k02orIXfbTPHwhp1gqAw&>.

Valentino-Devries, J., J. Singer-Vine and A. Soltani. Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users’ Information. 24 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323777204578189391813881534>.