Consider the Source

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.

..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.

in reference to: How Privacy Vanishes Online, a Bit at a Time - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Learn more about how to protect yourself online: http://www.privacy.gov.au/topics/technologies/security

What is this thing we call privacy?: Part 1

There isn’t a moment in our modern day that we aren’t confronted by someone wanting information from us. Whether it be Greenpeace good-doers soliciting donations on nearly every street corner, or a website requiring you to register as a member. There is so much information floating around us we are in a constant state of information overload. In many ways, information has become a commodity.

In fact, if you search information overload the results will illustrate nearly everyone is aware of a potential problem, but no one can be certain what to make of it. On the one hand, we adore the playfulness of social media and the ease of open communication within a network, but at the same time we are fearful that the price of these tools is too much personal information. No longer are we remote islands onto ourselves, but digital villages of white noise, colourful images, encapsulated in a blur of promotion. The ability to exist within this new world is to trade information about your true identity.

According to Roger Clarke, “cyberculture' is the concept of a group or groups of people achieving cohesion by means of the information infrastructure”. As a consultant specialising in strategic and policy aspects of eBusiness, information infrastructure, data surveillance, and privacy he is a good source on the subject. In a paper entitled Dissidentity, Clarke raises an important point regarding the psychological need for private space.

“There are many different contexts in which human behaviour depends on the freedom and constraints associated with the identities that they use.”

Wikipedia defines privacy as; ‘the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively.’ To me, the reality is that no one should expect to be entirely private when online. Privacy is a relative term in the offline world and it’s no different online. There are a few colourful words to describe a person who would walk around wearing a mask and cloak. Usually, when someone has something to hide it’s because they participate in some sort of action that they believe would change other people’s perception of them. Fear of embarrassment, judgment, hate, as well as a multitude of other emotions can lead people into strange behaviours that they’d rather keep to themselves.

I can entirely appreciate the notion of privacy and why most people do not wish to have personal information disclosed without their explicit consent. When I provide my email address to a site in exchange for a newsletter, registration, or information there should be an understanding that my email addresses is not to be used for any other purposes then the agreement of which I consented. In other words, my email address should not be sold on a list for other product promotions and third parties should not contact me as a consequence of my participation in divulging my personal information. Spam is a cute name for a very big problem. Another issue is identity theft; which I'll try to tackle in another post soon.

Some believe that the World Wide Web is a virtual space, cyberculture, or cyberspace. The reality is that who we are online is not a different person from our offline selves, and the laws in which we conduct ourselves online should be in keeping with the laws that stop us from stealing and hurting people in the physical world. The ability to be intrinsically more of our darker selves or indulge our fantasies is a freedom and not a right. An abuse of freedom has the power to alter the structure of a society, or at the very least break down trust. Anarchy is a beautiful yet unrealistic dream that would sooner turn into a nightmare then a Utopic wonderland.

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