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Geofencing: Will Privacy Fears Crush What Could Be A Customer Service Goldmine?
Foursquare, Facebook Places & Gowalla have introduced location-based services and marketing to Main Street. So far, Main Street is either ok with giving away location data or they haven't figured out the lifestyle reprecussions.Taking location-based services one step further, geofencing is probably the most useful technology in that realm. Imagine stores, hotels, airports, and other service providers knowing exactly when you are "within the wire". The targeting of their services, customer service, marketing or CRM would be quite a bit more effective than it is today with a simple "check in". So, do you think people will give up even more of their personal lives for efficiency or improvements in service? Or will the perception of geofencing relegate it to a technology collecting dust on the shelf?
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The trend has surprisingly been towards openness. Even with Facebook, as it crossed the chasm from alpha-geek to everyday Joe, there were questions around whether folks would freely provide such intimate details to an application and therefore a company. And, the answer inevitably comes in "what's in it for me?". What value are the specific services leveraging geofencing actually delivering.
Are we talking about local restaurants that deliver discounts to try and lure you in? Or, a dating service that lets you know "great matches" that are within your local area? There's definitely a broad spectrum of potential services there and the decision to share or not will be "what am I [the consumer] getting for sharing".
Ultimately, just as we saw a gradual opening of personal data through social networks, I think we'll see the same for geo-data. That mix of cultural norms shifting and the potential value of services increasing will result in people sharing more and more freely.