If you accidentally try to order the same song twice from iTunes, you'll be warned that you already own it. Not because it would be illegal or unethical for Apple to profit from your forgetfulness. There's a clear business reason: the leaders of iTunes realize there's no better way to make you trust them than to be totally honest when you least expect it.
In the age of the Web, smartphones, and social networks, every action an organization takes can be exposed and critiqued in real time. Nothing is local or secret anymore. If you treat one customer unfairly, produce one shoddy product, or try to gouge one price, the whole world may find out in hours, if not minutes. The users of Twitter, Yelp, Epinions, and similar outlets show little mercy for bad behavior. The bar for trustworthiness is higher than ever and continuing to rise.
Don Peppers and Martha Rogers argue that the only sane response to these rising levels of transparency is to protect the interests of customers proactiv