What Will it Take for Internet Users to Care About Privacy?

Pax Dickinson’s article on sys admins is worth reading, and reminds me of something from my own experience.

Around 2003 — 2005 I worked at a venture backed Internet startup that filed for IPO in 2010. This company didn’t have a CTO at the time, and was run by MBAs from Wharton. They received Series B funding for $4.5MM in 11/03. Not a Mom & Pop operation.

I remember having clear-text access to names, email addresses, usernames, passwords, full credit card numbers and addresses. Yes, I was an early employee but this information was available to everyone in the customer service department. The only reason why I did not commit crimes with this data was because I had no inclination to do so. Our customers had no idea that their data was so exposed.

I also had no idea how many people used “Jesus1" as their password. It’s easy for me to spend my time in NYC & Silicon Valley and lose sight of middle America.

I remember pitching an app similar to Glimpse to Sam Altman & Emmett Shear last December. I pitched it as “Snapchat for Grownups.” They both warned against building something where genuine privacy was the feature distinguishing my app from Snapchat. They correctly noted that American consumers express concern about privacy but don’t actually change their behavior. People complain about Facebook, but do so via Facebook posts.

It’s my hope that the recent NSA revelations will start changing consumer attitudes towards privacy. I know it’s changed how I use the Internet. If you have comments regarding poor privacy controls at venture backed companies, or about your own changes in Internet behavior, I’d love to hear from you. Find me at Twitter.com/ElissaBeth.