User Driven – joeandrieu.com
type: channel
description: My personal space
date: 2013-03-01T13:51:29Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
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items: Google sees the value of Free Customers
items: It all starts with sharing…
items: User Driven Services: 10. Duty of Care
items: User Driven Services: 9. Self-managed Identity
items: User Driven Services: 8. Improvability
items: User Driven Services: 7. User Generativity
items: User Driven Services: 6. Self Hosting
items: User Driven Services: 5. Service Endpoint Portability
items: User Driven Services: 2. Control
items: Facebook democratizing TOS? Sort of.

Google sees the value of Free Customers
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2013-03-01T13:51:29Z
subject: ProjectVRM
subject: User Driven
subject: Vendor Relationship Management
description: This is fascinating: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/google-bringing-trueview-ads-apps-games-147558 Google has an ad program on YouTube that let’s users skip ads and they are now extending it to other ad formats. Even though it is the same old advertising game–something that could use some fixing–what’s … Continue reading →
encoded: This is fascinating: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/google-bringing-trueview-ads-apps-games-147558 Google has an ad program on YouTube that let’s users skip ads and they are now extending it to other ad formats. Even though it is the same old advertising game–something that could use some fixing–what’s impressive is that with the ad-skipping feature Google saw “a 40 percent reduction in the number of people who click away from a video when shown a pre-roll” ad. It’s real-world proof that a free customer is more valuable than a captive one. Give people the freedom to leave and more will stay than if you had forced the issue. I’ve done this myself. Initially, I was ready to leave the page because the content didn’t seem worth the extra delay of the ad. But then I see that if I wait just a few seconds, I can click past it. Not only does the ability to click past keep me from just abandoning the video altogether, but in a few instances the opening bit was funny or intriguing or just interesting enough for me to want to see the rest of the ad. It’s a brilliant example of how giving people the freedom to leave can actually keep them around more.

It all starts with sharing…
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2012-05-02T15:37:26Z
subject: Information Sharing
subject: ProjectVRM
subject: Shared Information
subject: User Driven
subject: Vendor Relationship Management
subject: IIW
subject: iiw14
subject: information sharing work group
subject: ISWG
subject: Kantara
subject: Kantara Initiative
subject: label
subject: legal
subject: notice
subject: open standard
subject: open standards
subject: privacy
subject: privacy policy
subject: standard information sharing label
subject: standard label
subject: terms of service
subject: terms of use
subject: TOS
subject: TOU
subject: VRM
description: From kindergarten through our professional life, sharing binds us together as friends, colleagues, and collaborators, so perhaps it should be no surprise that online sharing through services like Facebook, Twitter, and email shapes our online social life. Yet sharing online … Continue reading →
encoded: From kindergarten through our professional life, sharing binds us together as friends, colleagues, and collaborators, so perhaps it should be no surprise that online sharing through services like Facebook, Twitter, and email shapes our online social life. Yet sharing online is anything but simple. The details of what happens with the information we share is often hidden behind long, complicated legal agreements that almost no one reads. If we’re lucky, they are explained in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents, sometimes buried out of view, other times forced on us like ransom notes forcing us to state our compliance or leave the site. It doesn’t have to be that way. Today, at the Internet Identity Workshop, we officially launch the Standard Information Sharing Label, which makes it easy for websites to say in simple, consistent language what they do with our information, making it easier for individuals to make better decisions about the information we share online. The Information Sharing Work Group has published a draft specification defining the Standard Label as well as a Kickstarter project to finance its graphic design. The Kickstarter has a brief video explaining the effort. The official press release is here. The work is free to use and open to collaborators. In all my years contributing to the VRM conversation, few projects have made me as proud as I am of the work behind the Standard Label. Check it out. If you like it, please spread the word and consider chipping into help take this work to the next level.

User Driven Services: 10. Duty of Care
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-14T10:58:21Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: duty of care
description: 10. Duty of Care User Driven Services look out for their users’ well-being. If a service is truly acting in our best interests, it will take appropriate measures to protect us from dangers resulting from our use of the service. User … Continue reading →
encoded: 10. Duty of Care User Driven Services look out for their users’ well-being. <img decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-618" title="Lifegaurd on Duty" src="https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_671475lifegaurd-on-dutycropped.jpg" alt="Lifegaurd on Duty" width="229" height="191" srcset="https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_671475lifegaurd-on-dutycropped.jpg 382w, https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_671475lifegaurd-on-dutycropped-300x250.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 229px) 100vw, 229px" />If a service is truly acting in our best interests, it will take appropriate measures to protect us from dangers resulting from our use of the service. User Driven Services continually work to minimize user exposure to liability, risk, and potential harm. Minimal identity information should be acquired and what is acquired should be retained for a minimal period of time, to help reduce the possibility of inappropriate identity correlation and theft. Services should acquire and maintain a minimum amount of confidential data—identity or otherwise—and where feasible, should store that data in an encrypted form. Services should also endeavor to minimize the possibility that their system becomes as vector for attacks of any kind on users, including phishing, viruses, Trojans, and malware. User Driven Services should also expend appropriate duty of care in protecting their systems from hacking and attacks, not simply out of self-interest, but to protect their users’ interests as well. Examples Google and Firefox help prevent users from unwittingly visiting potentially malicious websites, working with the StopBadware program at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The PCI Security Standards Council oversees payment card industry (PCI) data security standards designed to protect credit card data. Classically, Doctors adhere to the Hippocratic Oath, with its essential commitment to “D…

User Driven Services: 9. Self-managed Identity
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-13T09:54:08Z
subject: Identity
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: information cards
subject: OpenID
description: 9. Self-managed Identity User Driven Services let users manage their own online identity. Unless we control our identity online, we risk unnecessary exposure to identity theft and unwanted correlation of online activity. At the same time, online services increase the … Continue reading →
encoded: 9. Self-managed Identity User Driven Services let users manage their own online identity. <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-587" title="Name tag" src="https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_4473313hello-my-name-iscropped.jpg" alt="Name tag" width="288" height="196" srcset="https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_4473313hello-my-name-iscropped.jpg 480w, https://blog.joeandrieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dreamstime_4473313hello-my-name-iscropped-300x203.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px" />Unless we control our identity online, we risk unnecessary exposure to identity theft and unwanted correlation of online activity. At the same time, online services increase the risk of attacks when using the same identifier for multiple functions. User Driven Services allow users to be in maximum control of their identity by distinguishing between the four different types of identifiers used online: Authentication IDs Presentation IDs Reference IDs Internal IDs Users should be able choose their own third-party identity service and have complete control over the three external identifiers used by any User Driven Service: their authentication IDs, their reference IDs, and their presentation IDs. The internal ids relating these external identifiers should never be exposed. Identity Providers should operate in non-correlation modes—so that different services providers automatically receive different authentication tokens, and all presentation IDs should be hand selected by the user for each service whenever possible. The ideal service will enable intentional correlation only upon user directive, allowing individuals to claim blog posts, social profiles, and microblogging accounts as their own, after initially anonymous or psuedonymous use. Services are also more flexible when they allow users to use multiple distinct identifiers within a given class, e.g., having more t…

User Driven Services: 8. Improvability
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-12T12:22:56Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: customization
subject: hacking
subject: improvability
subject: open source
description: 8. Improvability User Driven Services can be improved by users. A closed system can’t predict and satisfy all the needs of all its users, all the time. Sooner or later, someone will eventually desire a new feature or capability beyond … Continue reading →
encoded: 8. Improvability User Driven Services can be improved by users. A closed system can’t predict and satisfy all the needs of all its users, all the time. Sooner or later, someone will eventually desire a new feature or capability beyond the resources or interest of the service provider. User Driven Services take advantage of that motivation, allowing users to directly improve the service itself, both for themselves and others. Through source code modifications, plugins or extensions, API calls or webhooks, or client-side scripts or macros, users should be able improve the real-time experience of services, without breaking the services and without violating their Terms of Service. Mechanisms should also exist for developers to contribute to improving the standard specifications upon which interoperability and portability rely. Examples CGI scripts enable custom code to generate web pages for webservers such as Apache. Open Source projects provide full source code so users can directly modify a service application. Excel macros let users define sophisticated data operations across spreadsheet data. Facebook’s FBML and OpenSocial allow customized widgets integrated into web pages at social networks. The iPhone lets users download and install new applications. Internet Explorer and Firefox allow users to write or install custom plugins like Google Toolbar, Acrobat Reader, Flash, and Quicktime. Questions Can users add functionality to the service through custom code, plug-ins, or extensions? Does the service allow interactive access via APIs so that third party applications can provide enhanced, wrap-around or integrating functionality? Does the services support webhooks or other callbacks for integration with other online services? Do client-side applications allow for client-side scripting or macros? This article is part of a series. It is the eighth of ten characteristics of User Driven Services: Impulse from the User Control Transparency Data Portability Service Endpoi…

User Driven Services: 7. User Generativity
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-10T19:49:48Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: user generativity
description: 7. User Generativity Users contribute to User Driven Services. User Driven Services build on active, engaged participation in value creation. Users should be empowered to augment, annotate, and contribute to the underlying service as much as possible. By enabling users … Continue reading →
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User Driven Services: 6. Self Hosting
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-09T20:30:43Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: co-location
subject: hosting
subject: independence
subject: services
description: 6. Self Hosting User Driven Services can be hosted on users’ own machines. If we can’t host our own services, we become beholden to those who can. This creates an artificial barrier to portability, limiting user choice and allowing service … Continue reading →
encoded: 6. Self Hosting User Driven Services can be hosted on users’ own machines. If we can’t host our own services, we become beholden to those who can. This creates an artificial barrier to portability, limiting user choice and allowing service providers to charge unnecessarily high costs for their services. User Driven Services assure users credible alternatives to traditional hosted services. This means that there exist multiple, independent options for users to host their own service running on their own machines, and there also exist hosting solutions that allow users to run their own service on hardware at a co-location facility or running the service on a generically available website hosting provider. These options may be commercial or free, proprietary or open source. Preferably there is at least one open source, free option. It is even better if there are multiple such implementations for different platforms, different programming languages, and different storage and network technologies. Examples The LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP) stack allows anyone to host and run their own advanced web service with custom capabilities. If you own your own machine and have a connected IP address, you can host your own server for email, FTP, gopher, website, Jabber, MUD services, etc. You can host your own blog, fully integrated via pings and trackbacks into the global conversations occurring throughout the blogosphere. Free and commercial software enable you to host any number of services, either on your own hardware or hosted at standard hosting providers online. Questions Can users host their own implementation of the service on their own hardware? Can users host their own service at third party hosting companies? Are there free or low-cost licenses available for self hosting? Can users host on a variety of hardware and operating system platforms? This article is part of a series. It is the sixth of ten characteristics of User Driven Services : Impulse from the User …

User Driven Services: 5. Service Endpoint Portability
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-05-07T02:27:26Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: interoperability
subject: mail forwarding
subject: number portability
subject: open standards
subject: portability
subject: service endpoint portability
subject: service portability
subject: undeliverable
subject: united states postal service
subject: user dirven services
subject: USPS
description: 5. Service Endpoint Portability People can painlessly switch between User Driven Service providers. High switching costs create a barrier to choice and freedom; we should be able to move our services seamlessly from one provider to another without unnecessary interruptions, … Continue reading →
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User Driven Services: 2. Control
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-04-30T09:03:48Z
subject: User Driven
subject: User Driven Services
subject: control
subject: direct mail
subject: junk mail
subject: spam
subject: unwanted ads
subject: user control
description: 2. Control Users control User Driven Services. Once we start a service, we’d appreciate it continuing to respond to our directives, both during interactions and afterwards. User Driven Services give users direct control over both the flow of user experience … Continue reading →
encoded: 2. Control Users control User Driven Services. Once we start a service, we’d appreciate it continuing to respond to our directives, both during interactions and afterwards. User Driven Services give users direct control over both the flow of user experience and the use and propagation of all data associated with the user. Users control the means and timing of any outbound or distracting communications such as email, telephone calls, and postal mail. Users should be able to opt-in to messaging as desired without requiring any particular intrusion, except as required by law or in otherwise exceptional situations where established, approved means failed to reach the user for vital notifications. Pop-up and pop-under windows should not intrude on users’ web experiences. Junk mail should not arrive unsolicited, either electronically or through the post. Service providers should verifiably commit to respecting user directives regarding the use and transmittal of user data. The essential terms of that commitment should be presented and understood by all users in clear, concrete, and obvious communications. Users should be able to moderate the scope of data acquired, the tenure of its lifetime with the service provider, the timing and nature of release of that data to third parties, the terms under which such data is released, and most importantly, to whom it is released. Service providers may not be able to provide all potential services if users restrict access to certain data, but that option—fewer or lower quality services based on limited data—should be available to users. Examples Software applications can be turned off or uninstalled. Email list services allow users to opt-in, opt-out, hide their subscription, and receive messages immediately or via digest mode. Online communities and chat services allow users to manage their presentation in online worlds: their display name, their avatar, and their presence online. Social networks allow users to accept, cancel, requ…

Facebook democratizing TOS? Sort of.
type: item
creator: Joe Andrieu
date: 2009-04-17T09:06:03Z
subject: ProjectVRM
subject: User Driven
subject: Facebook
subject: Standard Agreement
subject: TOS
subject: User Driven Services
description: Over the last few months I’ve spent a lot of time talking within the VRM community about the need for a Standard Agreement covering the use of user-provided information in online services. Something that could eventually replace the confusing, complicated, … Continue reading →
encoded: Over the last few months I’ve spent a lot of time talking within the VRM community about the need for a Standard Agreement covering the use of user-provided information in online services. Something that could eventually replace the confusing, complicated, overwhelmingly ignored, and legally questionable Terms of Service (TOS) at so many websites. The idea is that we should coordinate a global conversation to develop a Standard Agreement that credibly represents the voice of the user. We’d start by clarifying the data rights for user contributions and eventually cover the entire TOS in a framework addressing the standard kinds of transactions most users do every day online. The immediate benefit for users: ridding the web of nearly all the annoying checkboxes we are currently forced to check, indicating agreement to legal contracts we never actually read. Facebook has seen the same writing on the wall: users are already in charge. After the fiasco of trying to update their TOS last month, they have turned to a vote of their membership to select the new Facebook TOS to use. Of course, members can only vote for a slate already approved by Facebook, but it’s a start.