Tag: Google Ventures

Anonymity and privacy are buzzwords of a new generation of chatters and messengers. Snapchat has risen to popularity in large part because the messages are never stored – it keeps the messages away from the prying eyes of anyone going through the phone. In the messaging world, Whisper and Secret have already established themselves as anonymous public forums, but Rumr is taking the concept one step further: anonymous group messaging. Funded in part by Google Ventures, users connect their phone numbers and emails to the system, and then pick a username. In order to start a chat, users agree to enter the chat with a listed number they know – the anonymous part is that users choose a color to represent themselves, not a username. Right now, the product is in testing, but it’s clear that personal privacy – and protecting one’s identity from others – is a key trend in the digital marketplace at the moment. It comes down to trust: as consumers become wary about how much data is being collected about them, they want to make sure their identities are only being revealed to the sources they want them to be. As the average consumer becomes increasingly digitally savvy, marketers will need to keep pace.