Your users are not the product you're selling | Hacker News Reader

Your users are not the product you're selling

europeanrobot.blogspot.com

4 pointsDrJokepu3 comments

Great post.

To be blunt, I think there is a balance between helping/screwing the users of your free service and helping/screwing your bottom line.

While we like to think of Google and Facebook as altruistic companies, they have bills to pay. Sure I agree that it is critical for them to retain and even grow their userbase, and to try to keep them happy, but they (1) have to make money in order to survive and (2) have to work with various organizations that may access/use that data for purpose that customers are unaware of.

For #1, we have to admit as users that despite the "Do no evil" policy, there are some things that Google is doing against our best interests as users. Same with Facebook, except that they don't even have that policy. :)

For #2, I am by no means trying to fuel some conspiracy theory, but I often wonder if these companies aren't at least partially funded by organizations that would benefit from the information collected. Obviously on the books their stated customers are primarily advertisers, but why wouldn't the CIA, NSA, and every other government's intelligence agency want access to these data sources, and what wouldn't they do to get access to them? I'm not against our government doing what they need to in order to protect us, so it isn't a criticism, but I wonder why I don't see this brought up more often- again, not as a conspiracy theory, but as a legitimate concern/question. We already have to assume that at least some major institutions and companies have some sort of representation by or at least relationships with these agencies, even if few know about them.

I agree that it is a mistake to view these companies as altruistic entities, after all, they're not charity organizations. They will use your data some way or another to increase their revenues and I think within reasonable limits this is acceptable.

As for government agencies, I'm more afraid of my data ending up in incompetent hands. Governmental organizations are not exactly known for their competency, neither here in England nor across the Atlantic. Someone incompetent with access to my data, even with the best intentions may cause serious trouble to me, not to mention someone without exactly the best intentions.

He's right that users will leave if you use them... However, you can use them a LOT before the vast majority will be upset, and then a lot more before they actually do something about it.

Look at Facebook. That site is the least consumer-friendly site I've ever joined. They don't care about privacy and only respond to outrage. And despite all the 'leave facebook' protests, they continue to grow and make money both.

Is it ethical? No. But there's a lot of money to be made and sometimes it's easier to do so if you're unethical. So they are.

I wouldn't treat my customers unethically, but then, I'm not a millionaire, am I?

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