Eye on Privacy: Is the Privacy War Over?

So, how do marketers know valuable data when they see it? A credit card number, for instance, is valuable if it helps a consumer make the next purchase without having to find his card (and only if he agreed to let us store that card number for him). It is not valuable to the consumer if we hand the credit card number off to a third party for a product or service that the consumer has not yet agreed to purchase.

In every consumer contact, marketers must ask themselves, "What did this consumer tell me that will help me make this experience more valuable to her?" It requires us to listen, to learn and to adapt. That sounds like a long process. But, in an online world, it may only take an instant. Every consumer contact, online or in person, provides marketers with valuable information. It is up to us to learn from it.

Are we ready to change how we view information and privacy? Can we begin to openly ask consumers to trade information in exchange for a more valuable customer experience? And will this transparency signal the end of the Privacy War? I don't know for sure, but I'll be watching Facebook for an answer.