Declan McCullagh has an article on CNET news that explores, among other things, the efficiency benefits that come from the accumulation and sharing of large customer databases. Some counterpoint comes from a PrivacySpot post on the article.
There are lots of takeaways in both articles, but I am inclined to PrivacySpot’s approach – even though the free flow of information may make markets more efficient, consumers still need control, and efficiency must adapt.
My sense is that as a society we are still going through the process of essentially re-engineering our relationship to data and rethinking its role in relation to legal constructs such as property and freedom. No doubt, treating all information as free would improve efficiency in some ways, but restricting information freedom with copyright, trademark and patent laws is seen as improving efficiency in other ways. I think we will eventually come to see the current privacy debate in the same light.