Risks and rewards
If we are of two minds about privacy, the same is true of technology. Technology fueled advances have resulted in an American society that is no longer stationary – 15 percent of the American public moves each year according to the U.S. government – and is among the most productive work forces in the world.

This technology-driven lifestyle has contributed to the need to do business with people we don’t know, in cities we’ve never visited. But technology also offers a means to overcome the risk inherent in not knowing with whom you’re doing business.

How we view our own privacy is more often than not shaped by the degree to which we have assimilated technology into our lives and, to a lesser extent, where we live. The result is often contradictory views best described as a blurring of the line between privacy and anonymity.

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For some Americans, like some who live in small towns and close-knit neighborhoods, privacy means that only the intimate details of your life are kept secret from your friends and neighbors. You know all about the clerk at the coffee shop because they go to school with your children. The doctor who cares for your family is also your neighbor and attends the same house of worship as you. Reference checks take on a whole new meaning when the person hiring you used to be your babysitter. The trade-off here is the sharing of more personal information in exchange for lower risk. Technology makes your life easier.

For other Americans, like some who live in the large cities and suburbs that corporate nomads often call home, the prevailing attitude is one of anonymity. Here, you engage in business and personal transactions with people you do not know and never will. The trade-off here is higher convenience for the higher risk that comes with not knowing with whom you are doing business. Technology makes your life possible.

This same risk equation applies for society at large. While there is clear right to privacy, there is no right to be completely anonymous. A degree of information sharing is required to protect society and individuals from physical and economic risks. If you’re sitting at the corner coffee shop reading the newspaper, no one needs to know anything about you. If you’re seeking a license to drive a fuel truck, then more due diligence is required.

Privacy and respect
These are complex issues, but the answers to the questions raised by them may be very simple: Consumers support the activities that require personal information sharing when they clearly see the benefits to them.

Scholarly research and studies commissioned by businesses indicate a fundamental desire by consumers for three things: a level of control or involvement in how their information is used; a level of visibility into the process; and, most of all, a level of respect for the person whose information it is in the first place – the consumer.

As a business community, we can help consumers make better decisions and develop better privacy protection habits. We can do that by being more transparent about what information we collect from consumers, why we collect it, how it will be used, and by drawing a direct line to the benefit that will result.

It’s an unfortunate reality that not all businesses and individuals will act in a responsible way. We need better laws and regulations to ensure consumer privacy is more than protected – it should be respected. Consumers deserve a guaranteed right to access information that is used to make decisions about them – not just the information uses currently covered by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act – and if necessary, prompt a correction if the information is incorrect.

Technology is agnostic and information can be used for the benefit of consumers. The opposite is also true. These are the issues that we all need to spend time thinking about, then acting upon to create a system that balances privacy protections with the technology-driven conveniences on which we rely.

Douglas C. Curling is president and chief operating officer of ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS), which provides information and technology solutions to businesses, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Curling has been an executive officer of ChoicePoint since its founding in 1997.

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