Many people get up in arms about technology companies keeping records of their users information and accuse them of being Big Brother.

The distinction that must be remembered is that in a ‘Big Brother’ scenario, lack of choice is implied. If a user voluntarily gives up his or her information to a company for safe-keeping or whatever other purpose, there is no coercion involved. The government is the entity capable of coercion. They are the true ‘Big Brother’.

So when PayPal customers put their trust in the company to safeguard their data and personal financial information, PayPal has incentive to honor that trust in order to retain customers. But when the IRS goes after PayPal seeking customer records, users may get confused about who the bad guy is. They may be upset if PayPal gives up the information, and rightfully so, if it is without a fight, but it must also be understood that the company is faced with a threat from the government if it does not cooperate. The government is the aggressor, PayPal and its customers are the victims.

On a related note, that is what excites me about the prospect of a consortium of Google, eBay (owner of PayPal), and Amazon bidding on large portions of the wireless spectrum in order to bring the internet to more people, or at least be a different choice for the rest of us between the duopoly of Comcast and AT&T. In my view, this could only be good for customers because of competitive reasons as well as the possibility that AT&T is already in bed with the government.

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