I was reading through an old Slashdot post of mine and it got me thinking.
Privacy in the online world is a tricky thing. Many companies exist to sell your online information. Facebook and Google being the two headline companies. But it got to me about how it is now almost mpossible to do anything online without losing your privacy. One reaction might just be to give up on those who do that. You get plenty of people who refuse to use facebook or google or whatever because of privacy concerns.
But y also can't use price comparison websites,(they sell your information as part of their service) Most large company's websites (amazon, screwfix, M&S, Tesco - sorry for the UK slant there). Basically anything you do at all on the web gives away your privacy.
That said, you can't go outside because people will take photos of you and with face recognition software that will soon be available you'll be tracked by these. By the way I'm saying soon as any point within your lifetime because once online photos stay online forever, so if the technology is developed by anyone in the next 10-20 years then you need to be concerned.
Face it, technology has meant the end of privacy as we have expected it in the past. Kind of like it has meant the end of the copyright/distribution as RIAA has known it. How we deal with this is the next question, but hiding under a rock is a very luddite reaction.
I'm not saying we should all give out credit card details out to anyone, and post photos of what I got up to with the wife last night on LinkedIn, but the world has changed and hiding from it won't help. We need a new model of privacy.
So what do I suggest? Well the first thing is we have to carry on with Zones of Trust. Google quite literally knows everything that I get up to. It has all my photos, all my calendar entries and all my personal documents and plans. While this is convenient it is also not really sensible. Even my fiancée does not have quite that level of access to my information. Likewise I have to remember that anything I do in a public place will become public record for eternity. Also realise that soon enough everything I have ever done in a public place will be similarly searchable and available.
Here's the turnaround though, it will be similarly available for everyone else too. Thinking of taking a new job well not only does your boss google stalk you, but you can do the same to him and all the other interview candidates. I can easily imagine my nephews growing up in a world where that information is commonplace and accepted. Likewise your browsing habits, all your browsing habits will be available. I imagine it will start off by someone launching a service where you can add to your facebook profile your browsing history. People already like websites or +1 them to show off stuff they find, so why not show everything? Someone will do it and some kids will start using it amongst their friends and it will spread.
All of this I see as a good thing but I don't think the older generation will get it, but I am starting to see people ever more so now having no expectation of privacy and this ending in a more open and honest society.
Privacy in the online world is a tricky thing. Many companies exist to sell your online information. Facebook and Google being the two headline companies. But it got to me about how it is now almost mpossible to do anything online without losing your privacy. One reaction might just be to give up on those who do that. You get plenty of people who refuse to use facebook or google or whatever because of privacy concerns.
But y also can't use price comparison websites,(they sell your information as part of their service) Most large company's websites (amazon, screwfix, M&S, Tesco - sorry for the UK slant there). Basically anything you do at all on the web gives away your privacy.
That said, you can't go outside because people will take photos of you and with face recognition software that will soon be available you'll be tracked by these. By the way I'm saying soon as any point within your lifetime because once online photos stay online forever, so if the technology is developed by anyone in the next 10-20 years then you need to be concerned.
Face it, technology has meant the end of privacy as we have expected it in the past. Kind of like it has meant the end of the copyright/distribution as RIAA has known it. How we deal with this is the next question, but hiding under a rock is a very luddite reaction.
I'm not saying we should all give out credit card details out to anyone, and post photos of what I got up to with the wife last night on LinkedIn, but the world has changed and hiding from it won't help. We need a new model of privacy.
So what do I suggest? Well the first thing is we have to carry on with Zones of Trust. Google quite literally knows everything that I get up to. It has all my photos, all my calendar entries and all my personal documents and plans. While this is convenient it is also not really sensible. Even my fiancée does not have quite that level of access to my information. Likewise I have to remember that anything I do in a public place will become public record for eternity. Also realise that soon enough everything I have ever done in a public place will be similarly searchable and available.
Here's the turnaround though, it will be similarly available for everyone else too. Thinking of taking a new job well not only does your boss google stalk you, but you can do the same to him and all the other interview candidates. I can easily imagine my nephews growing up in a world where that information is commonplace and accepted. Likewise your browsing habits, all your browsing habits will be available. I imagine it will start off by someone launching a service where you can add to your facebook profile your browsing history. People already like websites or +1 them to show off stuff they find, so why not show everything? Someone will do it and some kids will start using it amongst their friends and it will spread.
All of this I see as a good thing but I don't think the older generation will get it, but I am starting to see people ever more so now having no expectation of privacy and this ending in a more open and honest society.
