Just Asking

It depends on which side of the generation gap you sit. On the one side are those who relish and guard their privacy, those who are generally wary of handing over personal information. On the other are those who want to show and tell all. —Ann Mack, director, trendspotting, JWT, New YorkIndividuals will choose to defend or not based on benefits/opportunities offered by online destinations. For me, that means yes to Amazon "one-click" shopping and no to uploading my beer-pong photos to my Facebook page. —Matt Lindley, ecd, Arnold, Boston Define privacy. Isn't privacy things only you know? Something isolated or secret? Things that are "inside" you? Because if that's what it is, I sincerely hope that you can't find THAT online. —Rodger Beekman, cd, ADK Europe, Amsterdam, the Netherlands[People are] less bothered by marketers knowing too much than knowing too little—and bombarding them with [irrelevant] messages. —Adina Dahlin, chief interactive officer, Hunt Adkins, Minneapolis It may not be dead, but it's certainly on life support. . . . While people rail against what they perceive as intrusive snooping, they think nothing of . . . providing personal information just to get "free stuff." As Pogo famously observed, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." —Peter Kapcio, director, reputation management, Eric Mower & Associates, Rochester, N.Y.[People] understand the deal they have made with marketers. Advertising becomes more efficient and effective by using personal information; in return, ad revenues will make their favorite services cheaper and more widely available. —Rob FitzGerald, evp, managing director, Initiative East, New YorkEveryone's personal privacy is under review. [Consumers] are going to become more aware of ways to protect their privacy or allow marketers and "friends" to use personal information to target them with the right types of ad messaging, widget or an invite to the right type of party." —Alan Schanzer, managing partner, North America, MEC Interaction, New YorkFacebook has faced privacy backlash issues before with its 2006 release of automated, custom alerts known as News Feeds. Although users were originally skeptical and formed online protests and boycotts, News Feeds actually became one of Facebook's most popular features. As long as Facebook adheres to its original promise that no personally identifiable information will be shared in creating a social ad and that users will be exposed to social ads to the extent their friends have voluntarily opted-in, this new ad system will work. —Patrick Benson, svp, director, digital marketing, Deutsch, New YorkPersonal privacy was dead long before that. I'm sure there's someone at a direct marketing shop laying plans for mining our genetic profiles. —Robert Birge, Worldwide CMO, IMG, New YorkNot entirely. Many people will end up doing what I do, which is control the degree of revelations. I make sure my Facebook interactions remain playful and quirky yet superficial enough for the real Claude to stay out of reach. —Claude Grunitzky, chairman, The True Agency, New YorkYes, personal privacy is dead. And it's not just from social networking sites. If you've ever bought something online, you are exposed to the public. Just type your name into one of those personal search sites and you'll be shocked to find out how much info is out there. If you want to protect your personal privacy, the best bet is to change your name and live in a spider hole. —Roger Baldacci, evp, cd, Arnold, Boston Hard to say. I think as we know it, it's dead, but so many people "make up" their identities that we may be marketing to fake people in the end. —Jean Manasian, president, Manasian Inc., Waltham, Mass.

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Just Asking

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