Show of Good Faith
It's more important than ever to show customers you'll keep their information private.
By Chris Penttila •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It's getting hard for consumers to hide, as"spyware" programs invade personal computers and largeretailers such as Wal-Mart move toward Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) technology, a wireless "bar code"that lets retailers track inventory even after it's left thestore. Even paying in cash may not guarantee customers anonymitymuch longer: The European Union is adding RFID to the Euro. Ifsuccessful, RFID could be added to U.S. currency within a fewyears, making it possible to track money from the ATM to the cashregister.
Not surprisingly, consumers are wary. In a February 2003 HarrisInteractive survey of 1,010 adults, 54 percent felt that mostbusinesses don't handle customer information "in a properand confidential way," and some 53 percent said that existinglaws and business practices don't provide enough privacyprotection.
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