We’re sure that many of us have visited websites that have built-in chat applications where you can actually talk to a customer service rep if that’s what you prefer, versus reaching out on Facebook or calling in or going directly to the store. However it seems that if you value your privacy, maybe you should rethink that practice.
According to a recent discovery by Tom Scocca of Hmm Daily, it seems that when interacting with customer service reps through such platforms, it appears that they can actually see what you’re typing before you actually send it. According to Scocca, he discovered this when he submitted a question to a customer service rep and got an answer to his question a literal second later, as if the question had already been anticipated and with the answer already prepared.
If this was a bot it would make sense, but this was an actual human being that Scocca was interacting with and it seems unlikely that anyone could be that efficient. Further investigation found that there are certain customer service platforms in which they offer up real-time typing view, that allows reps to see what customers are typing before they hit that send button.
While we can definitely appreciate the efficiency behind such features, it is also a bit creepy, not to mention it raises some privacy concerns. What if you accidentally typed something in there that you meant to type somewhere else? In any case if this feels like too much of a privacy concern for you, you can opt to type out your question on a notepad before pasting it into the chat, or maybe reach out to the company via a different platform.
Filed in . Read more about Privacy.