Digital Privacy
Thirteen years ago, if you asked a layperson what the Internet was, there was a good chance they would point you to the Yahoo! homepage. Back in those days, lots of people used to type web addresses into Yahoo!'s search box and find the site they wanted in the results.
I'm willing to bet if you did that now, a lot of non-tech-savvy people would take you to Facebook. Maybe Google.
The term Facebook seems to have become synonymous with discussions about the loss of privacy in the digital age. And yet, it's something that most people don't fully understand (including me.) And social networking has become such a large part of everyone's daily lives that broaching the subject makes people a little bit uncomfortable. It's a little like bringing up risks of alcohol poisoning at a college fraternity party...each person, as an individual, is aware of the risks involved with binge drinking. But there is a bunch of group dynamics and social psychology involved as well.
Here's the unspoken question: what, exactly, are we supposed to do? Stop Facebooking?
I do think that changes in privacy issues in the digital age have radically outpaced reforms in privacy law over the past 20 years. There are some precedents that haven't been set, simply because they haven't been tested yet.
Personally, I don't think it's as big of an issue as some people thing. It's nothing to be alarmist about. Like most things, it's not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of trade-offs. To me, it's worthy sacrificing a bit of my privacy for the convenience of keeping in touch with people.
It's a personal choice, but I'm reasonably well-informed about the issue. The problem comes from people who are making decisions about what they choose to do based on the information available to them. And unfortunately, I think it's the uninformed and unaware that are going to bring the legalities of this issue to light in the next decade.
I'm willing to bet if you did that now, a lot of non-tech-savvy people would take you to Facebook. Maybe Google.
The term Facebook seems to have become synonymous with discussions about the loss of privacy in the digital age. And yet, it's something that most people don't fully understand (including me.) And social networking has become such a large part of everyone's daily lives that broaching the subject makes people a little bit uncomfortable. It's a little like bringing up risks of alcohol poisoning at a college fraternity party...each person, as an individual, is aware of the risks involved with binge drinking. But there is a bunch of group dynamics and social psychology involved as well.
Here's the unspoken question: what, exactly, are we supposed to do? Stop Facebooking?
I do think that changes in privacy issues in the digital age have radically outpaced reforms in privacy law over the past 20 years. There are some precedents that haven't been set, simply because they haven't been tested yet.
Personally, I don't think it's as big of an issue as some people thing. It's nothing to be alarmist about. Like most things, it's not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of trade-offs. To me, it's worthy sacrificing a bit of my privacy for the convenience of keeping in touch with people.
It's a personal choice, but I'm reasonably well-informed about the issue. The problem comes from people who are making decisions about what they choose to do based on the information available to them. And unfortunately, I think it's the uninformed and unaware that are going to bring the legalities of this issue to light in the next decade.