[IP] TiVo Owners: Don't Get Paranoid (to quote Andy Grove "Only the Paranoids Survive" djf)
TiVo Owners: Don't Get Paranoid
This is my last column for TelevisionWeek. (The sound you just heard was
the popping of a champagne bottle in the office of Michael Powell, the
Federal Communications Commission chairman.) I want to thank everyone at
the magazine for their support and encouragement over the past 15 months.
And in my final commentary I want to address the growing hysteria of
privacy advocates when it comes to digital technology.
TiVo, the digital video recording service, recently issued a press release
that revealed the viewing habits of its customers during the Super Bowl.
The findings, which included the 10 most-watched commercials during the
game, were based on a sampling of 20,000 users, and TiVo said no one's
personal data was made public.
However, just a few days after the release, you would think that TiVo CEO
Mike Ramsay had sneaked in the back door of each DVR owner. Many
journalists, myself included, were bombarded with e-mail calling for TiVo
to stop releasing subscriber data.
The e-mail apparently paid off, leading to news articles with alarming
headlines such as: "TiVo Users Beware: Big Brother's Watching" (Chicago
Sun-Times); "TiVo Watchers Uneasy" (CNET); "TV Might Be Watching You"
(Toronto Star); and "TiVo's Voyeur Power" (Motley Fool).
In the CNET article, one TiVo owner was quoted as saying the press release
caused him to experience "the most severe form of anger ? deriving from a
perceived betrayal of trust."
The "most severe form of anger"? One can only hope that this TiVo owner is
not an employee of your local post office.
In a Lather
The reaction to the TiVo release is neither new nor surprising. TiVo has
been frequently criticized in the past for releasing subscriber samplings
and for its recent partnership with Nielsen to provide aggregate data to
the TV industry. Privacy advocates and some consumers are concerned that
digital technology makes it all too easy for TV services to collect
information on what we watch and when we watch it. The mere suggestion that
a company may release this data puts some people in a lather.
Though we need to closely monitor possible abuses, an individual's privacy
is not threatened when a company provides a sampling of data drawn from
thousands of users. In fact, our understanding of new technologies-and how
people use them-is enhanced by this information. For example, the TV
industry is now trying to determine how the DVR's commercial-skipping
feature might impact the future of advertising. Subscriber data that sheds
light on this issue is invaluable.
However, the privacy "hystericas" don't see it this way. They believe they
must oppose the release of all subscriber data to ensure that no one's
personal information will ever be revealed. Like many other
special-interest groups, they live by the credo that if you give them an
inch they will take a mile. In other words, permit TiVo to release
subscriber samplings and they will try to release your personal data next.
This is the position of paranoids. #
Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He can be
reached at Swann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/