Impact of Technology
Privacy
Privacy can be broadly defined as "the right to be left alone" (Langford, 1999). Although it is recognized as a basic right, it is not absolute, as it may be the case within some other basic rights according to the Law. The duty to respect a persons' privacy allows exemptions; e.g. police or Government may have the right to obtain personal information from the citizens in order to ensure social order and harmony.
Marketing and Privacy are connected with a link, which is called information. Information is an absolute vital for the business and economic community in today's "Information Age". On the one hand, information is the starting point of Management, Marketing and Customer Relations. Without knowing in depth customers' conscious and unconscious needs and wants, the top management can not make decisions on policies. On the other hand, people need their privacy to live free.
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Citibank LogoFreedom is one of the highest values of individuals. It looks like two opposite powers have risen, which have brought many debatable issues and ethical dilemmas and will test our level of civilization. There are four types of personal information (Pourciau, 1999):
Private Communications
Privacy of the body
Personal Information
Possessions
Private Communications refer to a private conversation such as: The CEO of a company discussing some private strategic issues with another CEO and both want this conversation to remain confidential. If somebody records this conversation and sells it to the media, he has violated the privacy of communications right. A company may want to know private physical information of their potential customers for medical reasons. Amazon Company, among most of the companies today, holds personal information of customer's addresses, credit card information and other sensitive details (mobile phone numbers etc.).
All the threats that exist in today's inter-connected world...