Mary Meeker: “Privacy Paradox” May Create “Unintended Consequences” For All

Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends report came out yesterday, and as always, gives the industry pause to look at the digital ecosystem at a macro level and the factors shaping how it will look in the future.

As the growth of internet adoption continues apace, but mobile adoption slows, personalization and the proliferation of voice technology are driving innovation in the digital space. Exciting as it is to see these begin to take off, the improvements of this technology hinges on what data can be collected from the engagement of those users, which leads us to what Meeker refers to as a “privacy paradox.”

Meeker breaks further explains the privacy paradox by taking a deeper look at the three major players, and their intentions:

Internet Companies: Making low-prices services better, in part from user data.

Internet Users: Increasing time on internet services based on perceived value.

Regulators: Want to ensure data is not used “improperly.”

As the conversation around what data use has become family dinner conversation, recent data regulation may have some unforeseen ramifications.

“Scrutiny is rising on all sides—users, businesses, regulators. Technology-driven trends are changing so rapidly that it’s rare when one side fully understands the other… setting the stage for reactions that can have unintended consequences,” Meeker states in the published report: “And, not all countries and actors look at the issues through the same lens.”

With GDPR regulation taking full effect last week, we’ll begin to see how this will truly affect the utilization of this data and how that will translate into the user experience.

Read more about GDPR on AList here, which is part of a.network, a fully-integrated marketing consultancy and Communication Arts Orchestra.