Slashdot Mirror
Have We Lost Our Privacy To the Internet?
An anonymous reader writes "An article in the Guardian, penned by Joss Wright and Tom Chatfield, discusses whether we — as in Internet users in general — are, or indeed are not, giving away way too much information about ourselves to large Corporations that profit handsomely from mining the info. The article talks about how contemporary internet companies — perhaps predictably — are run with a 'privacy is dead' motto. It considers what implications having all your private data out on the internet — where it can be seen, searched, shared, retransmitted, perhaps archived forever without your consent — has for the 'future of our society' (by which the authors presumably mean the society of the UK). The (rather long) article ends by mentioning that Gmail scans your email, that Facebook apps frequently send your private data right to the app developer, that iPhones are known to log your geographic location, and that some smartphone apps read your address book and messages, then dial home to transmit this info to the company that developed the app."
People seem confused in the differences between "I do nothing illegal" and "I have nothing to hide". If you like to cross dress you most certainly have something to hide from your biker mates, or the chaps at the tennis club, or your patients at the dental surgery, or pretty much anyone else that doesn't enjoy your subculture. Yet there's nothing illegal there.
We spent thousands of years with no privacy whatsoever.
Thankfully, we realized (and have forgotten, apparently) that privacy is not only preferable, but is important to keep the government in check. A government that can break into anyone's house, spy on anyone, and look for the slightest infraction is one that is most prone to abuse.
It wasn't "lost" nor was it "taken" .. you traded it for better prizes (free search, free storage, whatever).
Anyone else find it ironic that an anonymous reader submitted an article about losing privacy?
Seems like the opposite of ironic to me. If you think leaving a permanent record of your actions on the internet is bad for you, then it stands to reason you would do as much as possible to remain anonymous in those actions.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Privacy is a commodity - a private commodity
Each of us has our own privacy, and each of us interpret "Privacy" a little bit differently
As to whether we have given away our privacy to the corporations, I think it's too much of a blanket statement
You see, privacy is ours to begin with. The decision of whether not our privacy is handed over to the corporation largely falls into our own hand
If you decide to value your own privacy, then you won't reveal your own real identity online - and there are many ways to keep your real earth identity separate from your online identity
Plus, if you are so afraid that huge corporations like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook may be gathering your privacy, then you should take step to ensure that whatever they gather from your activities online would not reflect who you are, in real life
Do not blame the corporations if you reveal everything yourself
And one more very important thing - Your privacy is not only in danger on the Internet
There are other areas that your privacy might be revealed to others - like your medical history, your driving licence, your voting records, the secret files the government (governments ?) keeps on you, et cetera
Do not think that just because your online privacy is threatened that your off-line privacy is not
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
the state and private enterprise routinely pass data back and forth between the barrier to get around the regs.. it's a hybrid situation so blaming just one of them is pointless..