Apple's decision to block apps whose sole purpose is to use location-based information to deliver ads hung like a specter over a Monday afternoon conference at CTIA Wireless 2010 on targeted advertising in mobile social networking.
Apple's move sparked debate among several of the panel members about whether it was right for OEMs to protect subscriber information. Some panel members argued in favor of releasing subscriber data while others said users are simply not ready for it yet.
"People are being educated: I say let it happen," said Steven Spencer, consultant and former CEO of social networking site Beezag.
Spencer believes that using subscriber data to deliver relevant ads will be critical to monetizing mobile traffic. "Either people are going to be given a choice of seeing ads and having apps ad-subsidized or they'll have to pay an extra $20 and not see the ads," he said.
Other panel members express reservations about whether subscribers were ready to have their personal information released to advertisers.
Jeremy Wasser, who heads up product development at Sprint's recently acquired Virgin Mobile and Helio brands, said the Millennial generation would be ready on an opt-in basis. "We're in a generation of exhibitionists so I think a lot will be ready for it," he said.
However, Wasser said older generations had significantly different views about privacy and would be leery of having their information used by advertisers. His sentiments were echoed by Mike Mulica, CEO of mobile address book company Fusion One.
"Our address book is opt-in," said Mulica. "Today you can't use this aggregated data because it's the subscribers'. As it gets more exposed, like how Facebook gradually exposed their data, advertisers will get utility from it."
Matt Peterson, who heads up consumer services for Samsung, says the handset maker believes social networks can be a bridge to open up the device ecosystem. However, he believes reasonable limits have to be put in place to protect subscribers.
"We're looking at how to expose the device's capabilities, like its camera and GPS, to app developers while not letting it run rampant," he said. "We see it as a democratizing influence."