When Buying Tickets Online, Is Your Data Safe?

Reports about Amazon diversifying into online ticketing emerged earlier this week, but it turns out the company might not go through with it.

The reason seems to be that venues were asking for customer data from the retail giant for better targeting of audience for their shows.

Customer data might not be monetarily valuable to regular customers but it is a big draw for tech companies, and even large companies like Amazon don’t want to share this data.

Amazon has even stalled its talks with ticketing company Ticketmaster over sharing of customer data.

This data can also be used by Amazon to draw customers to its own Prime services.

"It's all about Prime," Brandon Ross, an analyst at research firm BTIG, told Reuters. "The reason they are spending multiple billions of dollars a year on programming is to get more Prime subscribers and engage more consumers."

The current U.S. scenario seems favorable only for Ticketmaster, which has a near-monopoly on ticketing, with many venues tying up with it and nominating it as their exclusive seller.

Amazon could challenge Ticketmaster, but not just by offering tickets but allowing event companies to sell merchandize on its platforms.

Amazon’s interest in selling tickets at this point in time is not without a reason.

With the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) easing up on internet privacy rules, ticketing data and customer information will be up for grabs. More and more companies will be lining up for a share of the data pie.

Amazon can, for example, actually market exclusive tickets to Prime members using such data.

Ticketing is an attractive business venture — Ticketmaster alone generated $1.6 billion in 2016 — and Amazon might want in and could possibly trade in customer data for access to venues.

The company has tried to find a middle way by offering millions of dollars in sponsorship to event venues; but what remains to be seen is whether it compromises on customer data or even uses it for its own benefit.

On the customer end, you are better off reading the user privacy agreement, and at least knowing what can be done with your data.

The government is yet to pass any regulations regarding the use of customer data and if FCC’s actions are something to go by, you shouldn’t pin your hopes high.

While FCC has already allowing internet service providers to sell your data, companies such as Amazon might have a free hand with your data as no new protection measures have been proposed. Companies like Ticketmaster charge heavy fees for subscriptions, but they haven’t been known for selling data, while companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon have been selling data to advertisers for long.

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