Is Consumer Privacy a Bigger Issue in the Online World or Offline World and Why - Essay Example

Efficient privacy policies on the internet make access to information about any products a lengthy process. It discourages advances that are responsive to consumer needs because it limits consumers’ access to online content (Awad and Krishnan, 2006). For that reason, marketers have reduced the privacy levels for them to better market their products, a factor that is hazardous to consumers. In the offline world, consumer information is about purchases and subscriptions, and payment habits, which are sold to marketing firms for target advertisement purposes.

Presently, it is interwoven with the online world since the information collected finds its way online (Roberts and Zahay, 2012). However, consumers often have no option because the collection of data is done unwillingly, for instance, through remittances. The damage done by the loss of consumer privacy is immeasurable and often irreversible. Companies have taken few measures to try to control the loss of privacy. In fact, they participate in the sharing of consumer information largely for commercial advantage.

Online and offline consumer privacy must be addressed concurrently to be relevant owing to their interrelation.