About three years ago I started seeing insurance agencies advertising “safe driving tool” and I thought to myself that I had already endured months of chaperoned driving back when I was sixteen, why on earth would I purposefully allow something to monitor my driving? Also, don’t people pay big dollars for those dashboard police monitoring devices in an attempt to not have to be monitored by the police? So, no, I would never willingly allow an insurance company to monitor my driving. Maybe I’m cynical but isn’t it in their best interests to find ways not to pay you? I can’t imagine this information would always lead to honest returns on the side of the consumer.
A lot more questions about privacy and it’s implications than answers are out there. While I enjoyed the WSJ video and the privacy tips she shared to “shore up” our own online presence I can’t help but think that is just a veiled attempt by Apple and/or Google to make us feel as if our privacy is in our hands when it really isn’t. It certainly doesn’t bode well when Google is consistently sued for unethical business conduct.
Of course, there are two sides to the coin. And there are some really helpful ways in which AI on the road has benefitted me to the tipping point in which I would accept it worth it to have some of my information. Waze is that gamechanger for me. I wear many hats in my life, mom, caretaker, instructor, digital marketer, domestic goddess and I am always running around. The real-time traffic intelligence on Waze always helps me to get where I need to be and be on time.
I suspect that much like me most people have a tipping point to allowing their information to be accessed if the benefit outweighs its cost. I work in the college environment and I frequently get feedback from students that they have grown up being used to their lives online so they don’t worry as much about it. However, according to Mintel data, 78% of adults aged 18+ rank information or device security as their biggest concerns. This is a big enough number to keep the conversation going for the foreseeable future.
Resources:
“Attitudes Toward Technology and the Digital World.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, Mintel, 20 Nov. 2017, https://academic-mintel-com.libproxy.temple.edu/display/794109/.
Why You Can’t Win video. WSJ.
May 31, 2019.
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