Why UPS Can’t Have My Data, But FedEx Can

Within reason of course.

Not wishing to cart a truckload of gifts cross-country I made liberal use of Amazon and the like to acquire and ship a bevy to my holiday destination this past December. I then had the pleasure of playing holiday roulette: waiting with bated breath to determine what would arrive in time. 

This is where things got interesting.  Both FedEx and UPS provide tracking services. But with a marked difference. Tracking a FebEx package requires a tracking number. That’s it. With this single piece of information the company will display a detailed tracking history along with projected arrival dates. UPS?  The tracking number will show the last scan only. Want more detail?  Create an online profile. And an account. The process asks for a great deal of personal data. It also requires the requestor to run a gauntlet to confirm their identity.

The UPS validation process posed several multiple choice questions. The month my father was born. My mother’s maiden name. The name of a street where I never lived. First problem: Why is this data relevant and where did you get it?  The second: I never lived on the street named in option C or D. Even option E (none of the above) failed to provide an escape hatch. After a little eenie-meenie-minie-moe I failed the quiz. And abandoned the process with a devout promise to utilize FedEx whenever possible.  

As a professional in the analytics and information management sphere I understand the pervasive collection and use of personal information – public and private. This makes for great shock and awe stories over dinner when political discussions get overheated.  

So irritation aside, what struck me about this experience was how the layman might perceive it. 

UPS may argue that their process better protects the security and privacy of the individual and their shipments. A noble goal, although the disclosure of data that many would perceive to be incredibly personal during the ask-and-answer portion of the process would seem to belie this concern.  Particularly when it’s clear that the service could be provided without the collection of said data.   

The moral of the story here is about perception. Does FedEx collect similar data?  Will they ask equally intrusive and at times seemingly irrelevant questions in the future? I’m certain they have and will. But by not requesting or revealing personal data in an ostensibly gratuitous manner they have earned the consumer’s gratitude and a smidgeon of trust. 

As the discussion about individual privacy and data rights continues to heat up companies are well served to tread carefully. In the digital economy the misuse of personal data, or just the perception thereof, can be costly In terms of compliance/regulatory, as well as brand reputation and consumer confidence.

Consumers are getting smarter. We know companies have our data and often offer it up willingly.  But there is a quid pro quo.  We expect something back.  And it better be good for us. Not just you, the company. And yes, it might be an open secret that you have or are using data we didn’t explicitly give you.  But an open secret is still a secret.  Behave accordingly.  If you agree we’ll share our data without rancor.

Within reason of course.

P.S. In fairness to UPS and FedEx all my packages arrived in time. But I still like FedEx better. For now.

About the author: Kimberly Nevala is a the director of business strategies on the SAS Best Practices team. You can reach her at [email protected].