Consumers willingly give up personal information to stay connected
Implications - Although Internet users are still concerned about privacy, the reality is that many consumers are actually willing to give up personal information in order to stay connected. For example, Foursquare now has 15 million users, all of whom update their location status on a daily -- if not hourly -- basis, which not only publicizes their whereabouts but also gives Foursquare personal information ranging from their online browsing histories to phone numbers. What's more, a plethora of apps ask consumers to surrender their personal information in order to continue, and brands are increasingly getting sneakier when it comes to getting consumers to divulge their likes and dislikes, email addresses and more. Thus, society's level of virtual connectedness has brought on an era of "post-privacy," in which nothing is ever truly private.
