Personal knowledge

This article makes a good point about the difference between personal use of personal information and the impersonal use of personal information. I would like to expand on that concept a bit here. For the last few years, I’ve gone to the same barber at the same barber shop near where I live and work. Though he frequently forgets, I almost consider it a dereliction of duty if he doesn’t remember the setting on his shavers or how I like my hair cut. I expect him to know this in order to provide me with quality care. I also talk to him about my personal and professional life and the conversations are much more than I would share with most companies I do business with. I do this in order to get close interaction with what is a very personal service (grooming and hair care). And while I want that level of interaction with my barber, I would be a bit disconcerted if other barbers in his shop would be able to immediately engage me with the same level of knowledge he has built up over the years about me. The point is I don’t expect him to share that information, even within the same business. While I do clearly see the benefit in a business being able to provide me with very personalized service, I don’t necessarily want that information escaping the confines of how and when I’ve shared it. When I develop a rapport with a particular customer service representative who knows of my travails, I don’t want that representative to gossip about me to others in the firm, even though such is possible and in all likelihood, probable What companies need to realize is that they need to find a way of delivering that personal service without the risks to the customer that the information escapes the bounds of the relationship they’ve developed (i.e. hacker, crackers, looky-loos or governments).