How Edward Snowden is nudging our privacy desires

Market research company Lab42 released results of a study in which 54% of respondents said they desire more privacy at the risk of government security.

"With the recent NSA leaks making headlines, consumer awareness toward their digital privacy is at an all-time high," said Jonathan Pirc, Founder of Lab42. The reason the National Security Agency has sought out information about our interests, acquaintances and preferences -- which we so freely divulge in search engines, social web sites and mobile web apps -- is elementary: the data exists. And the reason it exists is to support the online advertising industry which, led by Google and Facebook, is expected to generate record revenues topping $40 billion this year, according the Interactive Advertising Bureau, But Lab42's survey also shows that the intensive online tracking of US consumers online behaviors, carried out ostensibly to deliver more relevant ads, quite often delivers ads no one really cares about. While Google and Facebook may prefer that the online advertising ecosystem remain as is, with the rich getting richer, there are dozens of smaller players in the advertising industry that have adopted a more Europe-like approach to giving consumers control of their privacy information and earning consumer trust.