I have always pretty much assumed that there is no privacy on the internet.  Consequently, I try to be careful about what I share in real-time on social media, and I especially try to minimize the amount of information that I give to Facebook, because frankly, I trust them very little.  Yes, I realize that my friends won’t be reminded of my birthday and won’t be posting happy birthday wishes on my wall, but, no, Facebook, you can’t have my birth-date.  That said, I’m more than happy to give away my location and private information if I trust an organization and I’m promised a discount or a more convenient customer experience.

Recently, my credit card offered me a discount at a restaurant that I could load to my credit card app.  After I loaded the discount to my app, I promptly forgot about it.  Several weeks later, as I was driving across town, my smartphone “dinged” notifying me that I hadn’t used my discount and that I was near a restaurant where my discount could be used.  I was initially impressed; however, because it was already after 1 p.m., I had previously eaten elsewhere.   Had my app notified me before I ate, when I first entered into a 2 to 5 mile radius of the restaurant, it would have been much more helpful than notifying me later in the day when I was within 500 feet of the restaurant.  So I gave up a portion of my privacy by allowing the app to track my location, but I didn’t receive the intended reward for doing so.  In general, this illustrates what I feel is currently the poor return on investment that I receive when I exchange my privacy for discounts or convenience on the internet.  I usually end up feeling cheated.

Yet, I keep trying.  Somehow, someday, I think, a merchant will “wow” me with a wonderful deal or experience because of customer information that I have shared with them.  Sadly, I am still waiting for that day.