Research Publication – Mobile Ecosystems – Privacy-as-a-product

November 12th 2018: Radio Free Mobile updates its flagship research product with the publication of Mobile Ecosystems – Privacy-as-a-product.

RFM research subscribers will receive their copy directly by email. 

Something has to change in Silicon Valley. The start-up mentality of move-fast-and-break-things has led to a series of blunders and mishaps that have badly damaged the reputations of the digital ecosystems and brought them to the attention of regulators. A move to a slower, but more meticulous approach to product development as well as being clearer with users about the use of personal data is needed. Google & Apple are the least affected while Facebook has real problems.

• Broken Valley. Too much has gone wrong for too many users for the problems to slip past the general consciousness. The result has been severe damage to the reputations of the digital ecosystems and the intense scrutiny of their methods for making money from notionally “free” services. This has largely been caused by the “move-fast-and-break-things” culture.
• Move-fast-and-break-things is broken. The requirement for start-ups to get to market as quickly as possible before they run out of money has led to the traditional product development model being abandoned. Almost all testing is done on real users with live This culture is endemic in Silicon Valley and for small companies with a few thousand users, it works very well. However, it has no place in giant global corporations because when hundreds of millions of users are affected, people will notice. This cultural issue is at the core of many of the problems being suffered in Silicon Valley and at Facebook in particular.
• No free Internet. RFM believes that a large part of the problem is also the perception that the advertising-driven ecosystems offer “free” services. These services are not free and never have been. Where the user does not pay in cash, he pays with his personal data. The digital ecosystems have not explained this well at all which also needs to change in RFM’s opinion.
• A clear choice. RFM thinks that something along the lines of: “We are able to provide you with this service by using your data and sending you advertising. If you would prefer us not to do this, the service costs $x per month”, will serve as a simple and clear offering to users as well as satisfy any opt-in requirements imposed by regulators.
• Privacy-as-a-product. Migration to a subscription-based model will also have the benefit of creating a clear contract between the user and the ecosystem where the usage of personal data will have to be defined. In effect, users’ privacy will have been productised and as a result, protected by a legally enforceable contract.
• Subscription: RFM has looked at the practicalities of the digital ecosystems to move to subscription from an advertising business model. While RFM thinks that both Google and Facebook will have great difficulty in making the switch, Twitter and Snap would be able to do so with much less effort.