Data Privacy: Get It Right to Get Users

Although few attendees probably knew it, Wireless Agenda 2000 opened the same day that the Federal Trade Commission released a gloomy report to Congress on Internet privacy: Self-regulation alone isn't adequately protecting consumers, so legislation is a necessary supplement to guarantee basic protections.

That's food for thought, considering CTIA President & CEO Tom Wheeler's keynote proclamation that wireless data is the second Internet revolution, one that "promises to make the first pale in comparison." But Wheeler tempered that optimism by cautioning against claiming victory prematurely when three defining issues remain unresolved: insufficient spectrum, the cancer scare and subscribers' rights.

"If e-commerce is to morph into wireless commerce, we have to have a relationship of trust with customers," Wheeler said. "Our challenge is to do something about that now. We have the opportunity to deal with something before it deals with us."

For its part, CTIA will release a consumer code of ethics, and it's suing the FBI over plans to use E-911 location technology to track suspects. But at the show, it was clear that each wireless provider, vendor and application provider also will have to do its part. One recommendation: Every company should have a chief privacy officer, who would ensure that all technology and business practices protect users' privacy.

"The future of your company depends on people's acceptance of the technology," said Ray Evertt-Church, Alladvantage.com director of wireless-Internet applications.

Cautionary tales abound. Earlier this year, privacy watchdogs howled over the Pentium III, which includes an embedded serial number that Intel said would be used only to validate e-commerce transactions. Meanwhile, DoubleClick lost a third of its market cap over three days following the flap over its collection of Web surfers' profiles.

Wireless privacy is an even taller order because of location technology, which could be a public-relations nightmare despite a service provider's best efforts. Alan Davidson, Center for Democracy & Technology CTO, warned against keeping historical logs of users' locations because they could be subpoenaed even if the user isn't a suspect. Global roaming makes the lines even fuzzier because privacy laws vary widely.

It's enough to cloud the otherwise rosy predictions for advertising that makes its pitches based on the user's location.

"To many people, that's not a utopian vision," Davidson said. "That's an Orwellian vision."