Some days, I feel like the little kid in the movie The Sixth Sense. Only I don’t see dead people. I see irony and contradictions everywhere.

Consider the issue of privacy. We all know what a big topic it is and how widely concerns range about what people do and don’t know about us. And at the same time, we willingly give up information that frankly, no one has a right to know.

Over the past week there has been a huge amount of discussion about the new full-body scanners that will be employed at airports and each report talks about all the methods that will be used to conceal the identity of those being scanned. Some welcomed the news while others decried the notion of strangers looking under their clothes.

And then something happened on Facebook.

On January 7th I noticed that many of the women who are listed as my “friends” were identifying themselves by a color. I had no idea why. It’s important to point out this time that neither did my wife or my daughter.

It turns out that the colors on Facebook referred to the color bra the user was wearing that day, information I never, ever expected to run across quite so easily. Apparently it was part of an idea to emphasize breast cancer awareness and the importance of self-exams. Now this might have been my favorite day ever if I were back in school. Instead I was left asking: “Did I really want to know?”

The answer is an emphatic yes and for all the right reasons. Getting the enormous population of Facebook to suddenly stand up and take notice of an important issue like breast cancer exams is possibly the best possible use we are ever going to hear from Facebook. I have to imagine that somewhere in that universe of 300 million-plus people there were thousands who actually learned something valuable. No doubt there were mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and more who discussed a topic they usually avoided. In fact, the Washington Post reported two days later that some cancer foundations said donations went up and clearly their topic got a lot of focus…and all without any official effort.

(There might have even been some guys who got into a discussion they needed to know about, although I am proud to say that none of my male friends showed up with a color next to their names.)

Right there is a sign of the power of social networking and a strange look into the crux and contradiction of the privacy debate. When information is collected and distributed for no discernible gain to the shopper, the individual or the general population, people get wary and angry. They question why anyone needs to know anything. Yet, when the benefit is clearly demonstrated, things change and suddenly we witness a very open public discussion.

Years ago I had a radio debate with a privacy advocate who summarized her fear of RFID (radio frequency identification device) chips as allowing someone to scan her from a distance and know the color of her bra under her clothes. I could understand someone not wanting to share that information, but when that exact same information was linked to the cause of disease prevention, the information flowed without hesitation. Sure that seems both contradictory and ironic, but it isn’t.

The privacy advocate’s complaint was that information could be taken without her consent and without benefit. Likewise, I don’t want naked pictures of me showing up anywhere (even in the mirror), but I feel completely fine as a frequent flyer if airports do full-body scans and it keeps me safer when flying. In short, I get the benefit. (In fact, a new Gallup poll shows that 78 percent of Americans feel the same way, approving of the use of full body scans as a way of keeping airline travel safer.)

Here’s hoping that this also triggers some thinking in the food industry about all the data we’ve been collecting and using primarily to drive coupons, inventory management and specials. Is it possible that the same shoppers walking our aisles in multi-colored bras might be willing to engage in meaningful exchanges of recipes for health issues, menu ideas, budget stretcher and more if they see the benefit? I’m betting they would

Editor’s Note: Michael Sansolo, Aisle7 board member, Retail Food Industry Consultant and former SVP of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), has a weekly column on MorningNewsBeat called Sansolo Speaks. You can read today’s news here MorningNewsBeat or reach Michael direct at msansolo@morningnewsbeat.com

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