Collaboration spécial
Alan White, phd US

The International Herald Tribune article the other day, about MINI delivering custom messages to MINI Cooper owners on digital signs the company calls “talking” billboards, got me back to wondering about the public’s schizophrenia over privacy.

The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: “Mary, moving at the speed of justice,” if Mary is a lawyer, or “Mike, the special of the day is speed,” if Mike is a chef.

It’s pretty cool, and if any brand can carry it off, it’s MINI. But once the novelty has worn off, will Mary the lawyer want to be identified every time she passes an electronic billboard? Maybe. Take a look at what millions of people are willing to put on their MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etc. We want our privacy, no doubt, but so many of us also want shape a public face. Right now the way we manage between our public and private lives is inconsistent at best. The interesting part will be to see how people reconcile the two competing interests over time.