Privacy Markets
Interesting piece from HBS on using markets to protect privacy, not regulation:
Q: What is the advantage to consumers to think of their identity/privacy in terms of being an asset? A: I want Amazon to know my identity, in particular my taste in books and music. I know that they respect the value of that knowledge so that the issue of sharing the data won't ever come up. I want American Airlines to know my flying habits and preferences because I want them to keep giving me the best service they can deliver in exchange for my commitment to fly them whenever I can. Consumers can achieve anonymity today by declining to join supermarket frequent shopper programs, but by so doing the average household pays $200 a year more for products. The points awarded by airline frequent flyer and hotel frequent guest programs, if redeemed, amount to discounts of 1 percent to 5 percent over the prices paid by non-subscribers. They also lose out on a variety of non-monetary benefits like recognition and preferential service that may matter more than money.
I believe this is a development that has simply been waiting for micropayments to catch up to it.
