Subscribe in a readerScott Allen and I were chatting about privacy concerns that arise when a company shares all their contacts with a third-party. This is an important consideration when you add your customers contact information to social networking environments like Spoke, LinkedIn, or one of the many others. Privacy matters in building any type of relationship.
Allen mentioned recently changes make at Spoke that improves privacy safeguards. My concern stems from the involvement of venture capitalists in social networking software companies. Remember, most start-up projects funding in this way are built to be sold. What happens when your data is purchased by IBM, Dun & Bradstreet, or some other company who would benefit from who you know?
To protect my clients, subscribers, and others to whom I interact, it is my policy not to enter any information outside of an individuals name and email address. Only when I'm sure the social networking system is safe and this information will not be revealed to any third-party. I've even gone as far as to seed my address books so I'll be aware of any data abuses. (For more about my privacy policy.)
Many companies already use hosted solutions that use data similar to social networking environments. Some examples include CRM solutions like Salesforce.com and RightNow. Most companies don't intend for your data to be shared, but information theft is a reality in a connected world, after all, employees can be bought and credit cards can be stolen. How comfortable are you with sharing every detail of your business relationships with a hosted solutions provider?
/ earning-trust | bi-crm /
By Justin Hitt at January 16, 2004 3:37 AM
Subscribe in a reader
379
