PETs, it is time to step up

Identity theft, electronic or otherwise, has become a big issue in recent years. Next time you’re out with friends ask around the table, and see who has been affect by ID theft, you might be surprised by the numbers who have.

Privacy and privacy enabling technologies have been an important but niche discussion in the technology industry for several years, most large companies – not just software companies – have a Chief Privacy Officer who helps those companies think about the role of privacy in their products and  the way that personal data is governed in the company.

Almost every website on the Internet has a “Privacy Policy” posted somewhere, but far too few users take the time to read the policy and understand what the company that they’re dealing with will do with the personal data that you share with them.

Despite the massive amount of activity in this area, I still meet very few people who understand what privacy means in the context of technology and what tools they should be considering using to protect themselves on the Internet.

The InPrivate feature that is being built into IE8 is a big step forward, providing mechanisms that allow users to cover their tracks on the Internet, leaving less of a footprint and therefore less personal data laying around as they browse.

In the long run the discussion around privacy has to become more mainstream, much like the topic of security is one that many more millions of users understand today compared to ten years ago. There are a couple of ways that this might start to happen.

Similar to the new features in IE8 you will start to see privacy enhancing technologies being built into mainstream products, providing users with simple functionality that can be used to protect themselves, giving them the choice to decide when they will share personal data and when they won’t.

At the same time I suspect you will also see companies start to differentiate themselves based upon their privacy policy, users who have educated themselves on the topic will start to choose the services that they use based upon the companies commitment, or not, to privacy.

For example, you might choose to use a service that costs you a few dollars a month that commits to protecting your private data, or you might choose an alternate service that mines your personal data for direct advertising but charges you nothing in terms of money.

Personal data is a currency in its own right, business models in the technology industry are already trading this currency in exchange for a whole range of services.

I would like to think that over time everybody will start to understand what their currency is worth, they will decide when they want to trade it and how they will get value for money when they do.