March 15, 2001:

I released my initial Intuit Privacy web page early on this date. Intuit stock promptly dropped a record 34% (from around $44 to $29) in one day.

Copies of my privacy page went to Intuit. Rich Walker, the effective head of the QuickBooks Professional Advisor Program. He soon arranged for a conference call between us and Nancy Weaver Smith, Intuit Director of Privacy.

March 23, 2001

Tax season work delayed our conference, but in 8 days Intuit expanded its Privacy Statement from one to 13 pages (http://www.quickbooks.com/misc/privacy.html). It answered many user privacy issues with full disclosure, readily understandable justifications, some opt-out offers and big new privacy commitments. Unfortunately, few users (including me) saw it initially.

April 3, 2001:

Rich was in Japan and not feeling well. Nancy was in California. I was a Florida CPA, with peak tax season pressure. However, with Intuit stock down to $23,  we spent 80 minutes on Intuit Privacy, at Intuit's expense.

I was glad to have them add a "QuickBooks Privacy Advocate" to the discussion, partly because the two well-qualified privacy people made me realize how seriously Intuit considers privacy. Our frank, mutually clarifying and constructive exchange went far beyond the Privacy Statement and each item on my first Intuit Privacy page. Even before we spoke I found items on my page (from related newsgroup and web forum posts) that could not be verified & were probably wrong, so I removed it. Once I review and verify my conference notes there will be a new version of it.

The conference participants knew we could not make final decisions, but our discussion showed that Intuit was willing and eager to look for new ways to protect user privacy. For example, it will compare its and other company policies, to look for other things it can do. There may be serious binding commitments to protect privacy. If Intuit implements even part of the privacy changes we discussed then this once perceived weakness may give it an important marketing edge.

My initial Intuit Privacy page and our conference clearly showed that communication with Intuit privacy personnel can do a lot. We now can email them directly at privacy@intuit.com.  Nancy, Rich and I have repeatedly followed up our initial discussion. Unless you too use this email link they may not have the ammunition they need to make the changes you want. Some changes take a while, but Intuit is much more likely to respond to privacy-related posts directed to this address than to those posted elsewhere.

QuickBooks Future:

QuickBooks personnel and facilities impressed me during 1998 and 2000 visits. I Intuit was not the expected multi-billion dollar company. Warning:these web pictures of young, fun-loving faces may permanently change how you think of Intuit.

The speed, effectiveness and friendliness with which Intuit reacted to our privacy concerns on many occasions fully confirms my impression. Can you imagine a phone or other big company reacting this fast?