Now there’s nowhere to hide! That’s because telecom companies could soon be compelled to keep data on our email, phone records, texts and web browsing. Not only that, but the police will have direct access to it in “real time”. In fact, according to the home secretary, it’s just the first step towards a centralised “super-database” on all our twittering and poking. Creepy privacy issues aside, isn’t it a direct marketer’s dream? How wonderful it’d be to have access to such a treasure-trove. We’d know who's talking to whom and when and where they’re doing it! We’d then ping them ultra-direct and thoroughly relevant bits of one-to-one marketing. Of course my tongue is firmly in cheek, but if people opted-in is it really so far-fetched? Rather than being bombarded with stuff that’s largely irrelevant, you’d get tailored marketing that’s directly relevant to that moment of your life. Now that can't be bad, can it? Just think of the possibilities…
