The Convenience of Technology and its Cost

In Simson Garfinkel's article, "Privacy and the New Technology: What They Do Know Can Hurt You," the author goes through several realistic scenarios in which privacy is invaded by technology. Whether its using a credit card or allowing a smartphone application to view your location, it is possible to know what someone did all day without even having to ask them. GPS devices make it possible to keep track of a person and know exactly where they are. Garfinkel also elaborates on the cost of this convenient technology. He addresses this by stating "If we want the convenience of paying for a meal by credit card or paying for a toll with an electronic tag mounted on your review mirror, then we must accept the routine collections of our purchases and driving habits in a large database over which we have no control" (324). Basically, by giving all our personal information to these companies, there is no way of knowing where this information will end up. Spam emails and telemarketing phone calls are the usual result as these corporations try to reach out to customers. Garfinkel does not approve of this, claiming "This trade-off is both unnecessary and wrong" (324).

I disagree with Garfinkel's opinion. In a society and business world that is driven by convenience, customers are proving they are willing to pay a little more or give away their information for faster and improved service. People want their food delivered to them, so naturally one will pay a "delivery fee" for the convenience of not having to leave their home and receive their food at their door step. Using a credit card is a convenience as well. It allows a customer to receive goods or services without withdrawing cash from the bank and the ability to pay at a later date. An example of this convenience is that drugstores are now entering the grocery game. As explained in this ABC News article, drugstores such as Walgreens and CVS are now carrying produce and more food items in order to compete with grocery stores. This convenience does indeed come with a price though. In this MSN Money article, prices of various items are compared between several stores. While it explains that CVS had a much lower price than Walgreens for one particular food item, the cereal, it is important to note that you need to be signed up for the CVS rewards program to obtain that price. In exchange for that reduced price, the customer is giving CVS their personal information and allowing them to track what items they are purchasing.

While Garfinkel's claim is a nice little statement defending privacy, it is difficult to understand how these conveniences will be served without this trade-off. The information that these companies are obtaining from this data collecting is crucial to their success. They are receiving great feedback and data showing where their strengths and weaknesses are; what their customers like and don't like. The survey fast food restaurants encourage you to take and in return you receive a free item is not a fair trade. The company is receiving this important feedback in exchange for one free item. That's a rip off for the customer! Companies should be paying more for this insight and data collection. Allowing companies to track our purchasing history in exchange for better prices for us is a great deal. Companies should be giving away much more than discounts and coupons for access into our likes and dislikes. This is where Garfinkel misses the point. Customers should take advantage of this and demand more than just a free cookie or 10% off their next purchase for this information.