Privacy and Persistence

It seems that the two issues we touched on last week are really alive in the press these days. Consider these three articles:

Should You Worry About Data Rot?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/personaltech/26pogue-email.html

Storage: The bytes build up – but where can we put them?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b8d64e78-0d0d-11de-a555-0000779fd2ac.html

Brussels to investigate consumer profiling by online advertisers
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16bcdf1c-1cc1-11de-977c-00144feabdc0.html

First, I hope you noticed the two different headline capitalization styles (the first clip is from the New York Times, the second two are from the Financial Times). Presentation aside, these are interesting in light of our discussion last week.

The first two articles address the question of backing up data. The "Data Rot" article looks at the question of storage alternatives from the individual consumer's point of view. It may not say much for the safety of CDs and DVDs as backup media, but read what the person interviewed thinks of online backups!

The second article considers the incredible rise in data volume produced by business. It also strongly questions the viability of any kind of cloud-based backup solution.

Finally, the third article speaks to our discussion of privacy when surfing the Web. European policy officials will be meeting to consider the problems posed by the way data is collected online.

The depth of what's available to interested commercial parties transcends anything as simple as cookie tracking or disingenuous data collection forms. Essentially, users are asked to waive fundamental rights to privacy when simply accessing the Web from home. Very interesting reading.

There may not be much that can be done to change persistent data trails left by the nature of the Web medium, but the article mentions transparency about that data trail as one goal of a more appropriate online environment. This sort of transparency is absolutely something that can be reinforced by choices in information and interaction design.

RealAge: Ethical Information Collection?

I came across this article tonight and it seemed especially interesting after our discussion about information collection, privacy, and information design in class earlier today.

Online Age Quiz Is a Window for Drug Makers
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/internet/26privacy.html

The article explores the issues raised by the RealAge online test. This is a case in which information is being collected in a way that is currently legal, but may not be wholly ethical.

There are no criminals stealing credit card information, but instead large corporate interests using marketing data to sell products. The ethical design question lies in how the data collection process is represented to users.

The user experience emphasizes the potential benefit to end users of being more aware of the effect of life choices on their health and longevity. It minimizes the fact that the information users enter is being aggregated in a large marketing database. According to the article, there are also many opportunities to opt in for membership (which includes consent to be contacted concerning health-related products) that may not be apparent to typical users.

How would you assess a case like this in light of our earlier discussion? Are there opportunities to change the design of the user experience to be more transparent without losing the target audience? Comments are welcome.