How much are you prepared to give away about yourself on the Internet? These days advertisers track our behaviour across multiple websites and target their messages accordingly. So is everything fair game?

Will Schnabel says the line should be drawn where a company gains your permission for behavioural targeting. Once you form a relationship with that business then it’s accepted that they will track your behaviour and focus appropriate marketing messages accordingly. For example, most people wouldn’t consider it intrusive to have a message sent to them asking if you need help if you abandoned a shopping cart process mid-way through. Or would they?

Will is Vice President of Silverpop, an international company offering email and multichannel marketing solutions. He joined me in the BTalk studio to talk about permission based marketing, and where the privacy line should be drawn.

He says the world is reaching a tipping point where an “opt-in” approach will become a common requirement in many country’s regulations. In other words, you can’t be tracked and approached unless you give consent.

First published on CBS News