My first instinct is to recoil in horror. It sounds like every dystopian sci-fi epic.

But why do I feel this way? Partly it is the lack of genuine personality behind the interaction. It is the Uncanny Valley of sincerity. When Facebook wishes you happy birthday, it is a purely mechanical response - not an outpouring of genuine feeling.

There's also the issue of why they do this. At a base level, it is money. They want you to feel a positive association with their "brand" so that you will spend money with them.

They are hijacking your emotions. Nothing new here - the half-naked woman on a billboard trying to get you to buy car insurance, the catchy pop-song designed to make you pick one brand of cola over another, the ruggedly handsome man telling you how white your shirts can be...

But in the airline example, there is a sinister asymmetry. They know everything about you - and you know nothing about them.

Let's correct that.

Imagine as you get on the plane you smile at the pilot, glance at your phone, and say "Hope this landing is smoother than your last few, Sandra! Still, you should be fine as you only had two gin-and-tonics last night."

As the cabin crew serves you a drink "Dave! Can I get more peanuts? I know you're on your final warning from HR - and I'd hate for someone to put in another complaint."

Would paranoid flyers only only get on flights if they knew that the pilot was under 55 years old? Would they refuse to fly if the pilot had recently gone through a divorce and lost custody of their kids?

Would people use social engineering to get an upgrade ("happy birthday flight crew! I baked you your favourite pecan pie!")

All of these feel distasteful to me - but it is the logical conclusion. If you want to artificially personalise our markets, we should be able to turn the tables on you.

I've been reading a few articles about how social networks and mobile operators feel like they own their customers.

I think personalisation is a great thing. If Facebook or my phone company can give me a personalised service - or discounts that I'm going to use - then I'm all for it. However, how much of your personal privacy would you be prepared to sacrifice in order to receive what level of benefits?

I think Phorm are evil for not informing their customers of their illegal trials - I also think Facebook's Beacon needed much stronger privacy rules. But I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with an informed, opt in, system to hold a mirror up to your preferences.

Let's take an example. Google Mail scans your emails and presents you with targeted advertising based on the contents. I think that's quite useful - if I'm emailing someone about a holiday in Italy, I'd rather see adverts for Venice than for baby powder. I understand what Google are doing and I've agreed to it.

Let's apply that thinking to mobile. Imagine that I've knowingly opted-in to allow adverts based on my behaviour. Consider the following scenarios.

I'm always dialling Domino's Pizza from my mobile. My mobile operator sees that behaviour and, the next time I'm on their site, they offer me a discount at Papa John's pizza.

I quite like that idea. See what I'm doing and target me with something that will probably be useful.

Let's go a step further.

I send a text to several friends which reads

Fancy going for a pint tonight? First round is on me :-)

My mobile operator then sends me a text back saying

Get £1 off Magners New Peach Cider tonight - show this text at your local Weatherspoons for your discount. Click here to find your local.

Even better! I'm getting relevant stuff just for doing what I usually do. Offers for me - ad revenue for my mobile operator - eyeballs for the advertisers.

If this was all opt-in - and I could stop at any time - is there anything wrong with this? Is there a "Dark Side" to behavioural advertising?

Consider the following scenarios.

I'm always dialling Alcoholics Anonymous from my mobile. My mobile operator sees that behaviour and, the next time I'm on their site, they offer me a discount on Smirnoff Vodka.

Let's go a step further.

I send a text to several friends which reads

Fancy going for a pint tonight? I've left my wife and am taking the kids with me :-(

My mobile operator then sends me a text back saying

Looking for a cheap divorce lawyer? Click here to find your local. Or dial +44800......

Hmmmm.... Not so nice now. Is it?

Personalisation, Privacy and Social Norms can sometime clash in the most creative of ways.