Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

Rasch, who works with a lot of the largest retail firms on legal issues, said he has no doubt that retailers will quickly embrace license plate tracking and a wide range of other techniques that are certain to test the U.S. consumer’s toleration for privacy aggressiveness as we approach 2010. “If retailers see it driving business, they’ll absolutely do it,” Rasch said. “The technology to do this is getting easier and cheaper. Yes, it will happen.”

The issue is much more about consumers’ evolving attitudes about privacy. Is a car parked on the street private, when anybody walking down the sidewalk or driving down the road can see it? What about in the driveway? In a covered garage? Does it make a difference if it’s a covered garage, does the privacy equation change if it’s owned by the city, by an apartment building landlord or by a shopping mall?

Consumers “don’t see retailers as being in the information business so they won’t punish them for information abuses, unless they’re personally affected by the (privacy) breach,” Rasch said. “And even when they feel personally affected, how does the chain react to their concerns? If that consumer feels treated fairly, (that consumer) may even reward the retailer. It’s all about customer service.”

Ironically, the success of these privacy-limit-testing plans rests upon the consumer public never learning of them. Put another way, the best way to leverage consumer secrets is to make sure that consumers never learn retail secrets.

If the local department store suddenly knows exactly what you’re considering buying and makes a compelling offer right before you buy a rival brand, that’s example of personalization and being attentive to customer needs. But that’s only as long as the secret of retail data-gathering techniques stay secret. As the overquoted line about sausage making goes, “People love to eat ’em as long as you don’t make them read what’s really inside them.”