Do we have any privacy?

Accordingly to the dictionary Privacy is: “the quality or condition of being secluded from the presence or view of others”. In addition online is being “under the control of a central computer, as in a manufacturing process or an experiment”. So we can deduct that Online Privacy is the condition of being secluded form the presence or view of others through the control of a central computer.

Major concerns nowadays are related with Internet, privacy issue and how the companies are stolen information from our computers with the simple excuse that they need to know, at low cost, our consumer preferences. In the past are the traditional focus groups and the products surveys to discover what we want.

US FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has issued some recommendation to regulate and prevent that some sensitive consumer information could be used by companies to discover what we want. Also, the customer will have some power to determine what information would share. However, how this is going to function it is still unclear.

A good example is how the European Union is managing this issue. A few months ago Google had some privacy issues related to some steal information through Wi–Fi networks. For the Europeans personal privacy is a basic human right and they are basing their protection laws in that. Maybe the US can take some advices from then to protect their own consumers.

Inside the mind of the consumer

For centuries psychologists have been studying or trying to study how the human brain works. They have always been been interested in what moves people to choose certain things and what moves other people to reject the same things. This was, is, and will be one of the major mysteries about the human brain.

Since the beginning of the 80s marketers have been using psychology tools to create promotional campaigns, to examine customer preferences, to evaluate the success of a new product, etc. Psychology is an essential part of every marketing study. Marketing has only one major purpose: to discover what the consumer needs and wants.     

Nowadays science and marketing are merging to create Neuromarketing. What is Neuromarketing? Neuromarketing is the use of scanning MRI machines to detect the brain's reaction to certain images. These images could vary from the release of a new product to a political campaign.

This new theory has many proponents that support that Neuromarketing can help create better products for specific sectors of the population and generate huge economic benefits to companies.

However, what about our deep feelings? Is it possible that with this information companies would start to manipulate our preferences? What about our political preferences? What about our beliefs? What about our consciousness?  Think about it!

Have a thinking day

MCB