Myware and Spyware 199
smooth wombat writes "A new startup aims to provide you with a piece of software that stores all of your sufing habits. Where you go, how long you stay, how many hours online you spend surfing, etc. Why? So you can then offer that information to companies in exchange for something of value. Seth Goldstein's company is in the early testing stages of a service called Root Vaults which right now only works with Firefox. You can choose whether to send this data to your Root Vault, some other service, or just store it on your computer. There are a few restrictions on the use of this data. From the article: 'Any company that uses this data must agree to four basic principles: the data is the property of the user, it can be moved from one service or device to another at will, it can be exchanged for something of value, and the user has the right to know who is using it and how.'"
Terms of Service (Score:3, Interesting)
And some company that agrees to this (wink, wink) decides to violate those terms. Then what?
I'll keep my browsing to myself. I can see this being part of the default install from the IS department at a corporation near you.
Frequent Shopping Card @ Grocery Store (Score:5, Interesting)
I think I'd be happy to trade my browsing patterns in exchange for something. I already don't mind advertisements on websites that I like (and if they have ads that seem interesting to me, I will always not only click the ads but try to make a purchase if I like the product/price.). I don't mind cookies or any of that stuff. I know it is there, and I don't really care what they do with my "information" as I don't have anything to lose in the lifestyle I live.
I actually support these "invasios of privacy" as they help bring me a better browsing experience when people know what I am looking for and are out there supporting (through AdSense or direct advertising) the content creators I go to every day. I subscribe to
I don't support spyware though, unless I know I can get something out of it. I'd give up all my browsing experience in exchange for a little residual return -- maybe if I knew what ad clicks earned the site, or if I knew that I had an effect on what advertisers would offer me.
My big hope for AdSense this year is that Google goes beyond contextual targetting, but also finds a way for users to "vote" certain ads up and down based on their identity. I don't need to see some ads, but I'll be happy to support advertisers who know what I want and support the sites I visit.
Value of a new lead (Score:2, Interesting)
Except we're all worth a hell of a lot more than that as a prospective, qualified lead. Depending on the product/service being sold, a new lead can go from $25 to several hundred dollars (higher end, more detailed data can go even higher).
I'd expect no less than $50 per vendor, to be split at some level with the information broker. Perhaps 25% to the customer from every lead, though it's getting close to "not worth my time" at $10-$15 per lead and will dillute their data with mostly lower-end leads.
Now if we can somehow work the credit agencies into this mix. They're making billions by selling your information without your permission (oh sure, you agree to release it with each vendor that reports you to the bureaus). Add to that the expense they add when they maintain incorrect information or allow their poorly secured system to be abused by identity thieves.
It's the new AllAdvantage.com! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Unfortunately (Score:3, Interesting)
"Open source" only guarantees that you have access to the source, nothing more. Putting spyware in an open source app isn't the smartest idea since anyone could simply take it out and recompile the binary.
Free software will guarantee a bit more than open source. It guarantees several freedoms (of which I won't list here) and possibly in the future protection from DRM.
In short, spyware and open source are not mutually exclusive, but spyware and free software are.
Re:Something of value? (Score:2, Interesting)
In this case, I think it's more important that the user is unaware of the information leak. Surfing habits that have knowingly stored and sold are going to be VERY different from those collected without the user knowing. Now -that- is human nature. We shouldn't CARE what these companies know we did, but we're not going to sell them information that we are ashamed of. (Or a great many other reasons, I'm sure.)
I'm not saying the 'something for nothing' syndrome isn't valid, too, but it isn't as applicable here.
Re:Grocery stores do it too. (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't worry much about the supermarket discount cards though. They generally don't care if you give them a real name, because mostly they don't even track it. The valuable data is "People who buy product X also buy product Y". The grocery business is famous for it's slim margins; slim meaning like 1%. It is essential to them that hey not have stuff taking up shelf space that isn't selling.
Re:Grocery stores do it too. (Score:2, Interesting)
I have cards for the three major chains where I live. I haven't given a name for any of them. Every time, they give me the plastic card and a form to fill out. The form goes in the trash, and the card works fine without it.
This seems to lend credit to your "People who buy product X also buy product Y" tracking. But is a card really all that necessary? It's not like I'm running into the giant megastore to buy a candy bar. They already can get this data from each of my visits-- how important is it that they can tie subsequent visits together?
Rather than product association, I bet it has a lot to do with spending patterns. If I'm spending $300 every two weeks for a year, then skip a month, it's pretty obvious I went to another store. If there's a trend of a lot of customers jumping ship, they can compare it to recent price increases. It'd be incredibly valuable to know that high milk and bread prices drive people away more quickly than laundry detergent or meats.