Forrester Research has seen the future, and the future is “personal data management.” In a new report, the prestigious research organization says that shifts in the economy will allow consumers to gain control over all of the data available about them online. This will be achieved primarily though the use of “personal data lockers,” or individual repositories where individuals can store and access their data to share and sell with marketers.

Currently, the data economy (which generates billions of dollars annually) is unfairly balanced in favor of marketers. Often, consumers don’t understand how their data is being tracked, collected, and sold, while those that do understand the complexities of data tracking don’t have the resources to protect their information.

As more and more consumers become aware of the significant cost associated with sharing data, they will dig in their heels and demand more control over their personal information. Rather than slowing the economy, however, this change will further spur the growth of a “privacy economy,” which will empower consumers to engage with companies on their own terms and, with time, give marketers even better and more actionable data.

Here at Reputation.com, we are happy to be leading the way in this new privacy economy. As we explained when we announced our Series D funding, Reputation.com is dedicated to developing innovative new technologies that allow consumers to control how they appear online. Currently, we are working toward this goal through the development of a Data Privacy Vault.

As the Forrester report points out, consumers will begin to take control of their data when doing is convenient and offers them some demonstrable value. Reputation.com’s advances in the personal data management field will allow this to happen.

In today’s Quick Hits, Facebook gets heat from Congress and Spotify gets heat from Facebook users. Meanwhile, Hollywood tries to capitalize on Facebook’s popularity and a survey shows the corporate security risks involving social media use.

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Congress Asks FTC to Investigate Facebook Tracking Cookies

Congressmen Edward Markey and Joe Barton have asked the FTC to investigate Facebook following reports that the company was tracking users even while they were logged off of the service. In a statement, Markey and Barton wrote, “as co-Chairs of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, we believe that tracking user behavior without their consent or knowledge raises serious privacy concerns. When users log out of Facebook, they are under the expectation that Facebook is no longer monitoring their activities. We believe this impression should be the reality. Facebook users should not be tracked without their permission.” In response, Facebook changed the log-out process so that it doesn’t store cookies for logged-out users.

Warner Bros Web Series Incorporates Facebook User Data Into the Story

In an interesting experiment, director McG is incorporating Facebook data into his new teen-oriented web series “Aim High.” According to McG, the series will pull data from a user’s profile to augment the series and give it a personal touch. Quoting McG, “music that the characters are listening to comes from your playlist, pictures on the walls, TV screens and picture frames inside the show are from your profile.” The planned “social series” is an attempt by Hollywood studios to tap into the popularity of social media technology, which has been siphoning viewers from TV and films.

Spotify Backtracks on Facebook-Only Authentication, Adds Private Listening Mode

Spotify users were in an uproar this week when the company announced that it was only allowing users to log-in to the service via Facebook. This move was widely criticized as it made a user’s Spotify playlist instantly accessible to Facebook friends via Facebook’s new “frictionless sharing” feature. Because users want to keep their listening preferences private, Spotify backed off and created a private listening mode. So, while you still have to log-in to the site through Facebook, you don’t have to share your listening stream publicly.

Social Media Use Increases Corporate Security Risks

According to a new global study by the Ponemon Institute, more than half of the 4,640 organizations polled indicated an increase in computer attacks as a result of workers using social networks. According to the study, “about a quarter of those respondents said the attacks rose by more than 50 percent” due to social media. The attacks mostly came via “social engineering,” which involves a deliberate attempt to target an individual using information in their profile to gain their trust and get them to click on a malicious link.

In today’s Quick Hits, we share thoughts on Facebook’s f8 announcements, a survey showing opposition to Facebook’s news feed changes, a story about the online reputation perils of college newspapers, and the Australian government’s concerns over Internet privacy.

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Facebook Profile Overhaul Raises Privacy Concerns

Yesterday at the company’s annual f8 developer’s conference, Facebook premiered a drastically new look for its profiles called “Timeline.” Timeline allows users to see everything they’ve posted on Facebook over the course of their time on the site, making much more information available to friends and followers. While many were excited about this change, others were concerned about the privacy implications of having so much data readily available. Facebook expert Mari Smith discussed the changes with USA Today and touched on these privacy concerns. Quoting the article, “Among her own vast online community, [Smith] said she’d heard complaints that Facebook was asking users to share too much information and that there were overtones of Big Brother.”

Facebook Users Hate Changes by 5 to 1 Ratio

According to a national phone survey, Facebook users dislike the company’s recent changes to the News Feed by a ratio of 5 to 1. Though the sample size of the survey was small compared to Facebook’s global userbase, it begs an intriguing question. If people are upset over changes to the news feed, how will they feel when the entire profile changes to the Timeline model shown at yesterday’s f8 conference?

Digitization of College Newspapers Causing Reputation Problems for Alumni

By and large, people are different during their college years than they are as professionals. But, as more and more colleges put their newspaper archives online, alumni are learning that the things they did in college are catching up with them and, in some cases, damaging their online reputations. This article from USA Today discusses how college newspaper articles, both old and new, can cause reputation problems for college students and graduates.

Australian Privacy Watchdog Gives Warning on Facebook Privacy

Add Australia to the list of countries that have taken exception with the amount of personal data that Facebook and other social networking websites collect about users. According to The Australian, Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim recently issued a statement saying that “social networking sites needed to ensure their users knew exactly how and when their personal information would be used.” Pilgrim’s concern, echoed by academics, is that erosion of privacy will be normalized unless people are made explicitly aware of how much information they are sharing online.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a new bullying prevention campaign, an interesting poll about teen attitudes online, a smart privacy change from Foursquare, and the hidden privacy risks of popular technology.

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Facebook and Time Warner Launch Anti-Bullying App

Yesterday, Facebook and Time Warner launched an anti-bullying app called “Stop Bullying: Speak Up.” According to ABC News, the app “offers resources on prevention, and asks children and adults to take an online pledge to speak up if they see bullying.” Cyberbullying is a major concern for children and teens online, and has been cited as a factor in a number of high-profile teen suicides. Facebook’s position as the hub of social life for many teens makes it important for the company to spend time on anti-bullying measures.

Poll Shows Young People Don’t Care About Online Slurs

According to a new Associated Press-MTV poll surveying 14 to 24-year-olds, 71% of respondents said they are more likely “to use slurs online or in text messages than in person” and that “only about half say they are likely to ask someone using such language online to stop.” This apparent disregard has led some experts to worry that young people are becoming desensitized to abusive language and are risking their reputations by using the language online.

Foursquare Makes Privacy Change to Hide Home Addresses

Foursquare recently enacted a new privacy change that allows users to check-in to their homes on the service without exposing their exact location. According to Mashable, “applying the ‘Home’ category will keep the actual address of the venue private to just the user and his or her friends, as well as allow the user to edit the venue or delete it altogether.” This step, while long overdue, is logical and may help bring in more privacy-conscious users to the check-in service.

Can You Use Technology and Protect Your Privacy?

In a comprehensive piece for The Today Show website, Christina DesMarais talks about the privacy concerns associated with a number of popular technologies. Listing everything from cell phones to fax machines, DesMarais explains how modern technology can put your privacy at risk and the steps you should take to help mitigate the amount of information about you online.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the differences between European and American privacy policies, a congressional privacy hearing, why “Daily Deals” might be bad for small businesses, and one man’s experience writing about the hacker collective Anonymous.

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Lessons from Europe on Internet Privacy

In an interesting segment for Marketplace radio, Paul Schwartz, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, talks about the differences between European and American privacy policies and how the U.S. could learn from Europe’s more comprehensive privacy laws.

Consumer Advocates Criticize Congressional Privacy Hearing

USA Today tech reporter Byron Acohido writes that consumer privacy groups are upset with Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s planned congressional hearing today to discuss Internet privacy issues. According to the report, critics are concerned that the hearing “is being staged to give short shrift to how Europe has championed privacy rights for individual citizens” and that the hearing has an industry-focused agenda that doesn’t adequately take into account consumer concerns. In her defense, Bono Mack says she is trying to find “a sweet spot between too much regulation and no regulation at all,” a tricky balancing act that has plagued numerous privacy proposals.

Report Shows How Daily Deals Can Damage a Small Business Online Reputation

Econsultancy shares the findings of a new MIT Technology Review report that shows how a “Daily Deal” offering can negatively impact a business’ online reputation on consumer review websites. According to the report, “ Groupon deal seems to have an adverse impact on reputation as measured by Yelp ratings. Their analysis shows that while the number of reviews increases signifificantly due to daily deals, average rating scores from reviewers who mention daily deals are about 10% lower than scores of their peers.” These findings suggest that small business owners should be very careful about how they use “Daily Deal” services, particularly with regard to their online reputations.

The Dangers of Writing a Book About Anonymous

In a Huffington Post column, Cole Stryker talks about the many threats he’s received from the hacker group Anonymous following the publication of his book “Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan’s Army Conquered the Web.” Stryker writes that he wasn’t, and still isn’t, afraid of Anonymous, writing that the group is “actually pretty ineffectual when you don’t give them the tools they need to engage in ‘life-ruining tactics,’ also known as data mining or social engineering. There are no nude pics of me being passed around on 4chan because there are no nude pics of me anywhere.”