Who would you give your personal information to: your state’s new toll road system, an amusement park, neither, or both?
At a Forrester event earlier this year, Melissa Parrish, a Forrester VP and research director, told the story about how her father (we’ll call him Bob), who lives in New Jersey, was rattled by NJ’s E-ZPass system. “There’s no way I’m giving them my personal information so I can get a pass!” he told his daughter.
Bob had been traveling the toll roads to his NY job for decades, and he had no interest in getting an E-ZPass electronic tag in his car. Yet later, when Bob went to Disney World in Orlando with the grandchildren, he was delighted with Disney’s new MagicBand, and couldn’t stop raving about it.
Given Melissa’s deep knowledge of customer data and how it’s used, she didn’t understand why her father was not okay sharing his personal data with the NJ Turnpike Authority—even though it meant he would save time and money on his daily commute. Yet, Bob was more than willing to let Disney track his every move, check-in to FastPass+ rides, buy food, and get in and out of the park and hotel—all with the swipe of the band on his wrist.
