If the Shoe Fits: Breaking Trust, an Industry Standard
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
Most people consider it wrong to take something, whether tangible or intangible, from someone’s home without asking—it’s called stealing.
Most people will be highly offended, if not downright pissed off, if someone goes through their cell phone, contacts their friends or reads their texts and emails.
Companies, on the other hand, see nothing wrong with it—unless they are caught.
I’m not referring to sleazy porn sites, but to the biggest names in mobile and social, the ones that are role models; names like Google Android, Twitter, Foursquare, Apple i-Whatever (Apple claims they prohibit it, but Yelp, Gowalla, Hipster and Foodspotting all do it) and a host of startups and app makers.
The address book in smartphones — where some of the user’s most personal data is carried — is free for app developers to take at will, often without the phone owner’s knowledge.
Heck, appropriating data was actually industry standard, until they were caught, that is.
Now they all claim to be changing their practice and giving users notice when they take personal data.
Does that give you a warm feeling or do you still feel violated the way you would if your home was broken into? (Most people spend more time with their phone than their home.)
Do you trust them to be upfront/authentic/transparent/honest in the future?
Or do you wonder what else they are doing that they haven’t mentioned and probably won’t unless/until they are caught.
Trust is fragile and difficult to fix once it’s broken.
Even oblivious Americans are starting to notice.
Option Sanity™ is trustworthy.
Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation process; so easy a CEO can do it.
Warning.
Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.
Flickr image credit: HikingArtist