I think it's important to consider the source- traditional media, newspapers don't want social media to be successful because they're scared of going out of business.
The reality is that Facebook- and any reputable social media network DOES NOT ask or require a social security number. You don't fill out your physical address nor do you need to fill out anything but your name and email address. Also, there are people canvassing for donations on nearly every corner of every downtown city centre right now - asking people for their names, address, and credit card numbers. That is more of a privacy concern to me then giving an online company superficial information about myself.
Today we are fractured from our network and we use social media to stay connected. It’s really that simple. The information that comes from participation within social networks provides valuable data that gives researches insights they'd otherwise have to spend years and stupid amounts of money to collect.
Privacy does not "vanish" - people are ignorant and give away info that is NOT required or asked of them. Participation is optional and what you disclose is in the hands of the participant.
And to quote from the article:
So far, this type of powerful data mining, which relies on sophisticated statistical correlations, is mostly in the realm of university researchers, not identity thieves and marketers.
I read about the Netflix lawsuit- I've been following it for years. At the end of the day - the movies people choose to watch is not a danger to their physical person. The information that was shared was done so to improve the internal algorithm of the recommendation engine. It breached privacy, but didn't open customers up to identity fraud.
in reference to: How Privacy Vanishes Online, a Bit at a Time - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)
..the customer data released for that first contest, despite being stripped of names and other direct identifying information, could often be “de-anonymized” by statistically analyzing an individual’s distinctive pattern of movie ratings and recommendations.
Learn more about how to protect yourself online: http://www.privacy.gov.au/topics/technologies/security
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