Selling Customer Information Free Essay Example

All companies collect customer information, but the type of information they collect varies. Some will just request small items such as names, address, contact information. While larger companies will often receive personal information, browsing history, cookie information, etc. Which doesn’t appear to be a lot, but the contents of both browsing history and cookie information can reveal a lot about someone’s life. (expand use examples from facebook)

By companies collecting and selling customer information, it can appear to be an invasion of privacy. Most companies will provide a privacy disclosure that is hidden in their terms and conditions when agreeing to a service or creating an account. Most bigger companies will explain that when they sell your data and information they are able to customize products or services that best fit your needs, which is great until your ads and emails are spammed from companies with various products and spam emails. The dilemma with the sharing of a customer’s personal information is that the customer has no information regarding who gets their information and what kind of information the other company is receiving. Once information gets sold, who knows what other companies have access to your information, at that point it is no longer confidential. Facebook is known for its sharing of consumer information, it originally started as personalized ads and products. Many ads can be false advertising which has been seen with the presidential campaigns in 2016. Back in 2018 Facebook was put in the spotlight after leaks revealed that the company was sharing user information with over 150 companies, the majority being technology companies even when users had certain sharing options disabled. Facebook has labeled over 60% of its users to receive potentially sensitive ads, which puts the users at a greater risk of exposure of their personal information.

From a business standpoint a customer’s information should remain private unless requested to share or sell with other companies. If the information needs to be made public or is needed to be shared in order to help the consumer or in order to complete the transaction. If it’s not fiscally necessary there is no reason to exploit the consumer. Many sites require information such as age, date of birth, and even ethnicity or race; which seems harmless until you think of the bigger picture. By using either your age or ethnicity advertisers are given the opportunity to use that information to provide content that other people within similar age groups and ethnicities have been interested in. In that moment you are no longer seen as an individual consumer but are immediately placed into a group, with others who happen to be of the same age and ethnicity. The concern with the grouping of ages, ethnicity, gender, etc. is how is that bettering your site or business by sharing an innocent individual’s information, and what is the outcome for them. 

A customer should have the option of which information they want to provide during transactions. Another way to keep the consumer at ease, would be by providing disclosures which entail exactly what information the consumer is willing to share and with whom, along with how that can benefit the individual. Most consumers' biggest question is what is in it for me, so a detailed description of how that will impact them is crucial. An opt in or opt out should be provided with the disclosures previously listed, if a consumer chooses to opt out of sharing their information, a description of how they keep their information protected should be provided as well, along with how long they will hold onto that information for. Some consumers feel more at ease when they are completely aware of a company’s true intentions with their information. 

 A typical transaction requires personal information such as name, address, and debit card information. Most larger companies now offer payment plan options which go based off of credit, which then requires date of birth, social security number, etc. For many transactions the basic information is needed to complete the transaction. By providing payment plan services for consumers, companies' sales can increase since the customer is able to purchase the product or service right away and have the option to pay later. The underside to that is the consumer’s confidential information such as social security number, could be shared to other companies without the individual realizing the harm it could cause to them.

When businesses decide to sell a consumer’s personal information they are doing it without any thoughts on how it will affect the consumer and only thinking of themselves. Corporate greed isn’t uncommon nowadays, businesses have become greedy and show it in various ways. By selling an innocent consumer’s information, they are able to gain profits without any repercussions; but instead choose to lead an innocent consumer into harm's way. After you sell that information it is up to the buying company to choose what they will do. As stated in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul. Or what will a man give in exchange of his soul?” This verse has been prevalent recently, in the world now you see a lot of people putting others in harm’s way, without truly seeing the bigger picture and meaning. The world can be a scary or harmful place when you dive deep into topics such as this, it’s important to remember that the Lord is looking out for our every move and to continue to have faith.