Kevin Kelly on Privacy and Personalization

We spoke with Kevin Kelly, Wired co-founder and author of “The Inevitable,” about privacy vs. personalization. For the full interview check out https://mzl.la/kevinkelly.

Absolute personalization requires
absolute transparency.

There's a slider

that connects those two coupled axes

and technology gives us that option

and we need to have that option
to choose where we want

but we can push it to when it's
absolute personalization,

absolute transparency,

absolute privacy,

absolute generic averageness.

The surprise is when people have that choice

they almost always push it

to the transparent personalization.

So the way I summarize this
is that vanity trumps privacy

people when given the choice will push that
slider and say treat me as individual

I am special, I am above average

and I will be transparent
to facilitate that

so that's what's happening.