It is expected that Apple will announce today a new service called iCloud. The service is expected to allow consumers to store music online while transferring the data to their home PCs without connecting.
Apple has signed cloud-music licensing agreements with several music label recently that would allow consumers to stream music online while also downloading songs on iTunes.
Both Google and Amazon have launched similar services recently.
Consumer’s fear of sharing personal information is on the rise. Sites selling consumer’s data to irrelevant advertisers who in turn spam or misuse the data often fuel this fear. The TRUSTs seal has become a well-known symbol of verification over the past decade.
Dealix, an auto lead generation site conducted a 90 day test using the seal and saw a 7 percent increase in conversions. Placing the seal at the front end of your funnel helps ensure consumers their data is being protected, especially when a credit card or social security number is required.
TRUSTe requires sites that utilize the seal to have links to their privacy policy and seed TRUSTe to ensure the consumers data is not being mistreated.
It will be interesting to see if the TRUSTe seal is the next trend in the online lead generation space.
How many people actually back up any data they have on their cell phones or computers? The answer is probably not enough do. I don’t know about you, but if I even forget my cell phone at home I feel totally “naked” and can’t wait to have it in my possession once again. We have all become so dependent on our cell phones, and even our computers as a source for any and all information we need to function. Unfortunately, those that were carrying around a Sidekick phone, and had the Microsoft service (Specifically Danger Inc), had to deal with a horrible situation of having had all their data lost. This is something none of us want to experience. So how do we prevent this kind of thing from happening to us? Really there is not a 100% way to prevent this sort of thing from happening if your data is being stored elsewhere. I think the only thing any of us can really do is look into a service or specific software that can back up our data and everything else that we store on our phones. Let’s take a guess how many people that just lost their data on their Sidekicks, don’t learn from this hard lesson of backing up your data? Do we need to all go through some scary situation like this to learn the hard way? Hope not!!!
Is there really a good time to capture email addresses and other secure information from consumers that are visiting your website(s)? Bizreport.com thinks there is an optimal time to get the consumer to provide their email addresses, when doing their online shopping (or other online activities). So, when is an ideal time to capture this sort of information from the consumer?? The report says, “At the highest engagement level, and most times this is at the point of purchase or while consumers are beginning to shop your site. .” Why is this? Capturing this sort of information creates more customer loyalty. If you want the customers to come back to your site, or eventually react to future emails you send them, they have to trust you and the site. The report also found that since mobile marketing (SMS marketing)is so popular right now, capturing their email addresses to send them mobile updates is something a lot of consumers are open to.
These sort of rules also apply to other online experiences, such as lead generation. For instance, Leadpile captures email addresses on all it’s leads, however there are some lead types such as payday loan and auto finance where additional secure information is captured. Capturing this information at the right time is certainly key to the trust factor with the consumer submitting online requests for things such as loans. 
Privacy groups believe that there needs to be legislation in place to protect consumers on the internet. Many are concerned that data collection of consumer’s internet experiences are not fair to the consumers, unless they opt in to allow this behavioral targeting to happen. The FTC was petitioned back in 2007, however now it is at the point of Congress and potentially enacting a new law(s).
Many retailers believe their use of behavioral targeting has allowed them to have an increase in sales. According to one retailer, “Personalizing a Web site [via behavioral targeting] helps an individual with an intent to find what they are looking for and helps the site owner deliver more content that is relevant to the individual, said Pete Olson, VP of product management at Amadesa.” The new potential legislation is looking at having the consumer “allow” such tracking of their internet behavior. Yahoo has argued that a consumer’s privacy should be respected in order to build trust with their consumers. Yahoo is doing it’s own regulatory data collecting by only keeping consumer’s data for 90 days. However, not all businesses are wanting to implement their own “rules”, therefore legislation seems to be the only way to protect consumer’s rights.
Leadpile will keep an eye on what happens with this potential legislation.
Tax Day is just about here and many Americans are scrambling to file their taxes. According to Internet News, 87 million tax returns were filed electronically in 2008. This means a lot of extra personal information is circulating on the internet for thieves to get their dirty paws on.
Data thieves used to be interested in credit card numbers, however with all the added security a credit card has, there is now not much use for just a card number. Therefore, things such as tax returns are very attractive because they contain everything from banking information to personal information that can be maliciously used. Experts suggest if you are filing your taxes online that you install some sort of internet security package and scan your PC for malware. Another crime tax filers should watch out for is the individuals that prepare your online tax returns. Using a trusted company to help you with your taxes seems to be the best option. As I have pointed out on a previous Leadpile blog post, BE AWARE where you enter your information and this also applies to you with your tax returns.
DON’T forget to file your taxes by April 15th!