For direct marketer Ebenezer Scrooge, watching television before retiring to bed had become a bad habit. Last Wednesday, he drifted off after watching 60 Minutes II, which had aired a story on consumer data entitled "Your Private Life Up for Sale."
The segment featured correspondent Scott Pelley gawking at a compiling firm’s record of the purchase price of the house he’d recently bought. The piece was as laudatory of the data industry as a lump of coal in a stocking.
"Bah, Humbug," Scrooge said, just before slipping off into an uneasy sleep.
He woke to see Pelley sitting at the foot of his bed. "You will be visited tonight by three data source ghosts," Pelley said. "Let’s start with Dippa."
"Who?" Scrooge asked, rubbing his eyes. Pelley tapped his clipboard, and a rather bored looking spirit appeared, holding a sheaf of papers and standing resignedly, as if on a long line.
"I am Dippa," he said, absently gazing at the opt-in request printed on one of the forms. "I am the ghost of data sources past. With the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, a valuable source of age information vanished from the hands of direct marketers."
Scrooge yawned. "Big deal. We survived, and anyway what’s done is done. What else you got?"
A second spirit popped into view. He wore a stethoscope around his neck and carried a large tube of toenail anti-fungal cream.
"I am Hipaa," he coughed. "I am the ghost of data sources present. With the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a valuable source of malady information vanished from the hands of direct marketers."
Scrooge shrugged. "Who wants to deal with a bunch of sick people anyway? Besides, afflictions are private concerns, and we’ll get the insurers to pay for resulting rises in marketing costs. Show me something that can make a difference."
Pelley grinned, and a third spirit appeared. This one said nothing, instead pointing with a single bony finger to a large stack of envelopes addressed to residents in Scrooge’s neighborhood, sorted by carrier route.
"Who is that?" Scrooge asked, a feeling of dread growing in his belly.
"He is the ghost of data sources future. His name is Mippa. With the passage of the restrictions on mortgage information --"
"Gotcha!" Scrooge interrupted. "There ain’t no restrictions on mortgage data, and a good statistician can still use home purchase data and location information to determine a bunch of characteristics relating to a consumer’s desirability."
"That’s why he’s the ghost of data sources future," Pelley said. "But not the future for long. Remember when I looked up my mortgage information on the show you saw? How long do you think it’ll be before the privacy advocates – and their congressmen – make this the next crusade? And other new mover information will follow."
"Mr. Pelley," Scrooge cried, "tell me if the consumer data industry will survive."
"If these shadows remain unaltered, I see an empty computer data bank," Pelley replied. He pointed, and suddenly they were surrounded by consumer records, none of which had forwarding addresses.
"Remove me from this place," Scrooge begged.
"Why? You’re home," Pelley replied.
Scrooge opened his eyes and saw that it was true. It was morning. Dressing hurriedly, he ran outside and hailed a cab.
"Get me down to the county clerk’s office pronto," Scrooge said. "I gotta gather new residence data while the gathering’s good."
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact rlevey@primediabusiness.com
