I’m sure by now most readers of this page have already read WSJ’s comprehensive coverage of the ever-increasing privacy concerns with behavioral tracking and targeting earlier this week. Just in case, for those that haven’t, the series is interesting and worth the read. Seems like I was right about those embers still being hot.
I predict it won’t be long before data ownership issues flare as well. A central issue in the privacy discussion is of course a internet user’s ownership rights in data about her usage, so data ownership issues intersect with privacy issues. However, data ownership issues also have much broader ecosystem implications. I introduced this topic on an AdExchanger thread a couple months back and will certainly elaborate as this distinct set of issues moves to the foreground. Watch for fireworks if not outright conflagration here as well over the next couple years.
With all these challenges for behavioral targeting, it’s a good thing there’s another approach that drives fantastic results where it matters: offline sales.
Andy's Blog 
Andy,
A very timely post!
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Cheers!
Steve Holcombe, Manager
Data Ownership in the Cloud