Blog Post 4: Privacy

As more and more people move their lives into the digital space of the Internet, the issue of privacy online edges itself further into the spotlight. Privacy can no longer be achieved with a high fence, drawn blinds and an unlisted phone number. Now, any number of holes in a variety of online resources that nearly every individual utilizes could compromise their privacy. But the holes aren’t only in the seemingly secure information people enter into ecommerce websites or through registrations for services, an individual’s privacy can also be compromised with the information they willingly solicit through the most popular activities for Internet users today: social networking. We live in interesting times, where the concern of maintaining privacy is being willingly lowered in favor of personalized content and greater connectivity with our peers. Individuals online are walking a delicate tightrope between openness in their online interaction and having their identity compromised, used as just another commodity to buy and sell.

Right now, your privacy is being chipped away in small chinks and sold back to you in the form of advertisements. This practice has been pioneered by search engine providers like Google to search through your browsing history or the contents of a page and then present advertisements from its database of advertisers that best fit your interests. Information about your browsing is also gleaned from cookies left by many websites and can be extracted and sold to marketing firms and agencies. This practice may sound questionable, but it is entirely legal and, in more extreme circumstances, can be enforced through an end user agreement that an individual must agree to before they’re able to progress onto the service. Now, all this gives business an incredible edge, as they’re able to target and capitalize on your interests as never before. However, privacy advocates are justifiably concerned that this sale of your personal information violates your expectation to privacy and, in response, have taken the issue to Washington. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that commerce and trade commission officials were at odds on how to solve the privacy problem on the internet. While trade commissioners wanted something akin to a “do not call” listing for internet sites, where you could universally check a box that would drop you from the cookie radar, commerce officials want the industry to self-regulate. Why the disparity? Because, tracking your movement and interests, selling your information, and targeting you with an ad for a product you’re more likely to buy is good for business.

Hacking into a secure database and stealing your records or installing a program that usurps control over your computer or leaks out your private information is the devil you know. The devil you don’t know is social networking. Social networking has become one of the biggest concern for privacy experts and the biggest darling for those who wish to move real social interactions online. Facebook has become the largest target for privacy advocates, as joining their network almost seems like a requirement for interacting in many real world social situations. The service’s notoriously bad reputation for protecting privacy has not kept it from expanding its influence to challenge even search engines like Google for control over your information. Google and Facebook are now locked in a battle for control of your information, leading Tom Krazit of Cnet News to warn us that “if you really want to control your data, don’t put it on the Internet.” () While Facebook wants more openness when it comes to your data, Google simply wants to catalog and track it and both have the same goal: to sell your information to marketing firms and other businesses that compile the data to create more detailed ways to sell you things. The rise of social networking has provided a wealth of sensitive information that people have solicited voluntarily, allowing unprecedented access to information that would otherwise take a detailed poll or an actual relationship with a person to uncover.

We used to protect our information behind walls, but the Internet is quickly turning those walls into glass. Online transactions, the digitizing of records both public and private, and social networks have all worked to put us out in the open. The government is slowly reacting to the concerns of individuals throughout the United States, and recently the idea of forming a committee to serve as an Internet watchdog to police the network for violations of privacy as well as other infractions has taken shape. Enforcement of such a policy is still a long way off, so in the meantime, we’re all either stuck taking Krazit’s advice or simply becoming more cautious in our privacy settings. Your best defense, in the case of privacy, is to know exactly what you agree to online and your biggest enemy is yourself.