Online Privacy: Does Anyone Really Care?
Everyone likes their privacy, right? None of us want people peeking in our windows at home, watching us. Orwell gave us nightmares of the government watching us through our televisions.
As technology has advanced and so many of us have given more and more information (from names and addresses to credit card information), technology has also started to gather information about us that we don't explicitly offer. Safeway knows when I buy bread but not milk, and they know how much more likely I am to purchase milk when they put bread on sale. Amazon knows enough about my preferences to make recommendations in music and books based on purchases and what I've viewed. Google knows what I search for and where I've been online.
Of course, I know they know. But do I know how much they know? And does it matter to me if I do?
Google has become not just dominant (in that it's the search engine used almost 70% of the time) but pervasive. Google ads, powered by Google AdWords, are on seemingly every site. Google Analytics ties into Google AdSense, letting Web sites optimize and monetize. And the visitor sees ads that she actually is interested in, ideally, because of the use of data collected by Google about the user.
If we ignore privacy as a concern, it's a pretty good deal. A win-win-win for users, content providers and advertisers.
But we like our privacy, right? Are we afraid of what they know, or afraid of not knowing what they know?
Google has to make sure that there's no huge backlash against its market share, and it has come out with the Google Dashboard, which allows users to monitor settings and see what Google knows about them across its myriad of services (including YouTube, Google Docs, and others).
Is it enough? Is it too much? Will we even care enough to use Google Dashboard?
Comments
@Tanner: I think you make a good distinction between intended parties being trustworthy with their use of the data and those intended parties securing the data.
@David: You make some good points, but as more people rely on online services for critical tasks (such as online banking) the risk--or at least the perception of risk--goes up. Right now Google seems to not be in the business of gathering critical personal information, and maybe they can perfect (or, rather, optimize) security for information for the eventuality that they are.
Great points David.
A few years ago I blogged about the dangers of something as simple as tweeting your holiday getaway plans, it can be dangerous. But tweeting what you ate for breakfast, or a cool photo of a cat eating a hamburger, what harm could that do, right?
Still, I wonder just what types of scams people like you and I could get involved in if a hacker gained access to our gmail or gchat archives. Makes you think. :)
Unless they get your account or Social Security numbers (think: Identity Theft), a scammer can only do so much with your "casual" personal information. I've heard of elaborate scams where they text your friends to ask for money, with a backstory based on your Facebook status, etc, etc. Of course in that scenario, they have stolen your phone too - the real crooks are going to have a whole lot more than your grocery list and latest Tweets. And you shouldn't be saving your bank account numbers online or emailing that kind of information at all.
If you're asking for it, you'll get it, to be sure. But with reasonable security in place, most of us can only expect trouble from the real criminals who are stealing phones, wallets and financial information from places other than our email and Google Calendar.
Of course, I have no statistics to back any of this up. Maybe you were victimized by someone who knew too much about your favorite YouTube clips. If so, I'm sorry to hear it. In the end, I only post/share/tweet/email things that I would feel comfortable going public. The worst case scenario is a slanderous personal email going to the wrong recipient, and somebody's feelings getting hurt. As far as some hacker in Ohio goes, I really couldn't care less if he/she knows how I feel about the way my neighbors treat their dog, what I intend to buy on Craigslist or what I'm bringing for thanksgiving dinner.
Its up to you to protect your sensitive data by not storing it in the wrong places, and to not be suckered by people using easily-accessible public information that they could have gained online, in your trash can or anyplace else.
Bottom line: Don't care.
My fear in all of this is not that Google knows so much about me, but rather what happens if someone other than Google gains access to that data?
It's the idea that maybe someone (like a scammer) could gain access to my search habits, and buying habits, that scares me.
Privacy is a thing of the past. What we should be concerned with now is how safe our information is online.
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