On the heels of a debate over the privacy implications of mobile marketing, a new company is taking steps to curb the concern with its new “3D profiling engine,” software offerings and a forum on privacy for the mobile marketing industry as a whole.
Using data analytics technology, the 3D profiling engine allows mobile subscriber data to be kept completely anonymous, never sacrificing on user privacy but delivering a highly-personalized mobile experience through relevant and engaging marketing. Xtract says it “ensures the highest levels of privacy in mobile marketing.” Whether that’s true or not, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Xtract allows offers “Social Links,” which is the first commercial software that enables users to leverage social intelligence in their marketing actions. What this means is, by default, all customer data is automatically made anonymous when imported to Social Links, thereby all data used in analytics is always anonymous while still being effective and useful overall.
Xtract’s methodology, defined as “3D user profiling” maps users against categories of interest, rather than making individual data visible to third parties, thus ensuring higher levels of privacy. The cornerstone of Xtract’s approach is that there is no need to link the results back to subscriber data that contains sensitive information, such as what number has been called. All subscribers are linked to profiles, classes, and score levels based on predictive models and profile characters instead of personal information.
To top it all off, Xtract has enacted its own forum on privacy for the mobile marketing industry. The group will promote the adoption of industry-wide standards that ensure the highest levels of subscriber privacy. It’s unfortunate that it took complaints to the FCC to get the industry truly thinking about improving privacy, but it might have done the trick, and opened up some eyes to a problem that must be fixed quickly to keep the industry moving in the right direction.
