Surf’s down. For now.

March 22, 2013 in Future, Law, Links, Strange stuff, Technology, VRM | 10 comments

I was talking with @ErikCecil yesterday about the sea change we both detect in people’s tolerance for unwanted tracking. They’re getting tired of it. So are lawmakers and regulators. (No, not everybody. But not a small percentage. And it’s growing.) See here, here,  here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Somewhere in the midst of our chat, Erik summarized the situation with a metaphor that rang so true that I have to share it. Here’s roughly what he said: “The backwash that’s coming is a tsunami that hasn’t hit yet. Right now it’s a wide swell over deep water. But you can tell it’s coming because the tide is suspiciously far out. So we have all these Big Data marketing types, out there on the muddy flats, raking up treasures of exposed personal data. They don’t see that this is not the natural way of things, or that it’s temporary. But the tidal wave is coming. And when it finally hits, watch out.”

 

 

10 comments

  2. Brian’s avatar

    Brian on March 23, 2013 at 10:47 am

    What’s the adage? If you aren’t paying for something on the web, YOU are the product.

  3. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on March 23, 2013 at 10:59 am

    I think it’s “If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product being sold.” Applies to commercial sites, anyway.

  5. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on March 24, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    Thanks, Elisabeth. Good catch.

  6. Paul’s avatar

    Paul on March 25, 2013 at 12:29 pm

    It’s not just in publications. Conversation at dinner on Saturday. Me “I work in digital marketing”. Banker friend “ah you are the one tracking everything I do, I don’t like it”. When your friends tell you your industry sucks, it is time to take notice.

    Of course, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t signed up to the new world order (aka VRM, the control shift etc) but your analogy strikes home.

  7. Ankit’s avatar

    Ankit on March 25, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    Spoken like a men who know Point Conception.

  8. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on March 27, 2013 at 12:39 am

    Hi, Paul.

    I’ve heard the same from other folks in digital marketing.

    Hopefully we can get the New World Order happening soon. 🙂

  9. Sheila Parry’s avatar

    Sheila Parry on March 28, 2013 at 6:47 am

    Hi Paul,
    You and your banker friend: kettle, pot

  10. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on March 29, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    Sheila, what do you mean by that?

Comments are now closed.