Privacy, reputation and ethics

The public's grievances with tracking are not going away, fuelled by articles in the WSJ, extensions which block tracking and murmurings of a tracking ban. In an attempt to engage with and inform the public, the WAA have recently updated their new code of ethics. In it they propose a list of statements that websites should agree to that centre around privacy, transparency, consumer control and education.

Although some believe that a ban is inevitable, if hard to enforce, we can begin to fight back by considering how a website owner's decision to monitor traffic responsibly can affect their reputation. The decision to adhere to the code or not will likely be affected by how concerned a site's visitors are with privacy and data security, as well as the policy/code's perceived cost (implementing and enforcing the relevant processes, displaying it on the site, etc):

Although websites and their visitors vary, it's likely that in order to avoid the potential negative effects on reputation for a relatively small implementation cost, most would choose to publicly sign up to the code. With individual complaints now able to build momentum into public campaigns, websites need to take reputation management very seriously. Would publicly signing up to the WAA code pacify privacy campaigners? Not entirely - the code requires the public's trust that it is being faithfully enforced, and trust is one of the current stumbling blocks. This is why a clear, intuitive argument for tracking, backed up by the site's privacy policy and support for the code is required to provide a compelling case for why tracking is in both parties' interests, and that upholding the principles of the code are too.

And yet not everyone is aware of this debate, or have yet to take the decision. This is where the WAA needs to keep on evangelising, talking to the likes of the WSJ and putting across our side of the argument. We can do our bit, by signing up to the code and improving our own sites' privacy policies. With both sides of the argument becoming more vocal, the number of those existing in blissful ignorance should soon diminish.

Improving self-improvement: a call for open-source education

It was simpler in the olden days: you bought the tool, read the documentation and voila! you'd taught yourself web analytics (well, almost). Now, to be at the top of your game in this business you need to be continuously learning. One of the many great reasons for working in the web analytics industry is its rate of development, with lots of new tools and techniques being introduced, and different thoughts abound on how to do the job properly.

There are a variety of learning resources available to the budding web analyst. There are many blogs in the web analytics field debating the latest issues, giving advice and suggesting new ways to tackle old problems (I've listed a few in my blog list to the right, if you're interested). There are also forums, books, and white papers provided by consultancies and vendors, catering to those in the visual learner category. For those auditory learners there are a number of podcasts out there (see also banner to the right). This then leaves the excitingly named kinesthetic learners who learn by doing, which sounds like the perfect opportunity to plug the Analysis Exchange.

So there are a number of places a web analyst can rely on to keep up-to-date with what's going on. But this puts me in mind of the former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, talking about known unknowns. These resources are all great at helping you find out information about things you know that exist and you know little about, the known unknowns. But what about the unknown unknowns? How can you get a definitive list of everything that a web analyst should know, to determine if you're on top of it all? I believe that this is something that the WAA is missing. Whilst they currently have the syllabus for the WAA Certification, publishing a list of the areas involved in "Web Analytics" might help define the role of the web analyst better, and help them in their efforts to define themselves too. It could help build a coherent self-referenced set of pages on the intracies of web analytics, with suggestions for the metrics and reports to use for given scenarios. Whilst there's plenty of information out there providing overviews of web analytics and the tools to use, quite often the advice contained glosses over the details, or is one-dimensional, failing to mention other related reports or analyses that could be carried out. This then would become the definitive site for a web analytics education.

The science of web analytics has been around for a while now. So why hasn't this "open-source" educational resource been created yet? Being spoon-fed the information isn't the best way to learn - what good, curious web analyst would want to learn this way? With the current web analytics sphere being very tools-centric it becomes harder to share information as silos develop. And there's also an element of self-interest. Handing out the information on a plate loses business for practioners; it also spoils book sales.

And yet, I still feel that open-source education is the way to move forwards. Whilst the web analytics industry has been around for a while, it's still not mature. The public doesn't trust it, and whilst the majority of companies have at least one web analytics solution on their site, there's little evidence it's being used to its potential, with only the largest or bravest allowing their online strategy to be steered by it. In order to deal with this, we need to grow the number of individuals with the necessary knowledge to become advocates, dedicated to analysing their website on a full time basis. Restricting the ease with which they can learn is a short-termist approach - we need to think about the long term. By growing an army of trained web analysts, the case for the benefits of analytics can be made to those businesses still too small or immature to have made the transition, transforming companies from being satisfied with a list of their top 10 pages to ones competing on analytics, to paraphrase Stephane Hamel's OAMM model. As a critical mass of sites that truly use analytics is reached, the remainder will have to engage or die. Competition breeds improvements in techniques and ideas. Then, as the world learns that sophisticated web analytics requires sufficient resourcing, the opportunity for consulting services and more specialist knowledge will grow, and the availability of information on the internet becomes irrelevant. No-one teaches themselves accountancy - they hire an accountant. By sharing now, we can create the demand for tomorrow.

Bridging the Numerati-Ignoscenti tracking divide?

I've just finished reading an informative book on the likes of us - "They've got your number" by Stephen Baker. The book talks about the Numerati - "mathematicians who are mapping our behaviour" in various industries, not just e-commerce, for example in the workplace, in politics, blogging and healthcare. There were a number of themes in the book, none of which came as a surprise. For example, Baker talks about the large amounts of data available in each scenario, and how powerful mathematical tools and knowledgable analysts are required to not only derive insight but the correct interpretation of this data. In the chapter on terrorism he pointed out the importance that the NSA (or GCHQ) analysis is correct first time; in other industries as Avinash likes to point out, we can (and should) learn from our mistakes; indeed, failing makes success easier.

Whilst Baker's book didn't try and paint a picture of illicit snooping and stir up the usual scare stories, it did get me thinking about how this subject is perceived by the general public. There is a lot of information available on internet technology, and more of this is filtering into the public arena. For example, browser selection is becoming more sophisticated; whereas a couple of years ago Firefox was the preserve of net geeks, now my parents are using it - Microsoft's share of the market is eroding. But it's not just browser choice that people are becoming more au fait with; it's the contents of the options menu within the browser, and with it cookie blocking, then private browsing and opt-out addons.

Whilst we should respect the wish for privacy of those who've chosen to block cookies, adopt private browsing or install these addons, we should not be scared of making the case for tracking so that these people have all the facts at their disposal before they make their decision. As people become more aware of the perceived murky world of corporate tracking, without a clear counter-argument being proposed it's easy for the public to assume it's of no benefit to them, or worse. And yet, one of the most popular websites on the planet is in that position precisely because of its tracking. People agree that Amazon is a great site, and are impressed by its cross-selling abilities and its recommendations based on their search history (both on and off the site). It surely shouldn't be hard to use this to sell the benefits of tagging a site. Whilst it's becoming fashionable to talk about how we live in a "Big Brother" society with constant surveillance, be it CCTV or online tracking, it should be possible to make the distinction between a true "Big Brother" society whereby monitoring takes place to crush dissent, and one which is built to help people do what they want to on a website more effectively.

So how to do we go about getting rid of this "Big Brother" image before the battle's lost?
1.Site Transparency. A clearly stated (i.e. not legal speak) and up-front privacy policy page (i.e not hidden away in the smallest font possible somewhere inaccessible), explaining the methods used and the information gleaned.
2. Present a clear case to the public. Whilst the case is clear, how it should be communicated is less so. Is this something for the WAA to do? The case needs to be made globally, and whilst they have a presence across many countries, this is something which needs to get into the living rooms of people across the world. Web analytics is being discussed in German and American parliaments at the moment; maybe petitioning your local polititian to raise a question could bring it into the public domain. What is clear is that the internet is a global phenomenon, and, as with policing it, lobbying it is hard to do.
3. Better education. In a previous post I discussed the importance of educating children in the internet. IT is an important topic, and the learning about using the internet is a major part of it, be it tracking, site construction or communication. Informing young people of all the facts at an early age is the best way to remove this image, if a slightly long-termist one...
4. Improve your site! Earn the right to stop people deleting your cookies - people would be more reluctant to delete their cookies to a site if they got an Amazon experience from it.

So there we have it, my thoughts on how we can turn the ignoscenti into the cognoscenti. Have I left anything out? I'd love to hear your comments.