The reason for this blog is that I read in an article about Eric Schmidt and Marc Zuckerberg declaring that privacy was dead. I didn’t choose my future kids to see everything about my life, that wasn’t meant for them, but hey, I can’t delete it anymore.
While big companies are fighting about whose system is truly private, another issue is actually popping up right now: how important is privacy nowadays? Facebook search engines gives totally strangers a look at our private data and other internet based companies got all our passwords. But do we care?
An announcement from Facebook allowing third-party developers to get access to private information of their users came out of the blue. This is not in line with an important rule made by Facebook itself: protecting their users. For me this is a step to far; from promising to protect their users to a sudden openness for strangers to view your private data. I even think it will put users at a certain risk. Anyone with Internet could, via this way, obtain personal information and with this information he or she could have all the data he or she would need to apply for a loan in the name of any user.
I think these are important topics, important in everyday decision making in the middle of new technologies or applications popping up every second. So we all get excited as we published our day to day activities on the web, but strangers can grab this data. Because this is part of our lives right now I think we forget about the natural component about how important privacy is even when we’re social and to be spied upon is not a thing anybody wants. Is it normal to be private and to be social? It’s important in our communities and relationships. We’re social yet private in our own homes. Luckily there is no camera in our living room, oh wait; Samsung is coming up with a TV about to change that as well.
What do you guys think about privacy nowadays? Dead or alive?
Thanks for starting a conversation about this interesting topic. I can understand that many people don’t care about commercial companies accessing their personal information, however, I think privacy is important, and having “nothing to hide” is irrelevant. Personal data is very valuable. It can be used to affect our reputations and influence our decisions/behavior. Privacy limits the chance that governments or large companies are getting too much power and abusing this power for their own intentions. Another argument is about evolving as a community or even as a humanity in its whole. The environment and the world around us is constantly changing. We have to change as well to improve a make progression in our philosophical, political and technological beliefs/abilities. Improvement requires creativity. Creativity requires original and even controversial ideas. Privacy makes sure that people aren’t afraid to talk about their ideas. If everything is transparent, people will just do and say what is expected from them. Communities will stand still, in my opinion.
Your article about privacy seems to me an important topic to discuss. Nowadays many people leave their personal information and sometimes every thought or step in their daily lives on the internet. I think people should be more aware of the effects of posting ‘everything’ online. Like most things in life online privacy begins with yourself. So I think it is important that people think before they act and therefore know what the consequences are of leaving information on the internet. Maybe online privacy education is something to consider.
I agree with your argument that some private information, which is gathered by these large internet companies, shouldn’t be shared with third-parties. More and more information internet organizations gather is kind of obscure because most people are unaware that they collect large amounts of valuable and private information. Internet of things will enlarge this situation so that almost all your moves, actions and thoughts are caught by the Googles and Facebooks. It should be regulated, but it is ones own choice to use their devices and services.
Hi Luc,
I really like the topic of your post. Privacy is a topic that, in my opinion, will always be a part of our academic domain. Your question about the state that privacy is in now in public, is difficult to answer. This, because it has multiple faces. I think privacy can be a huge obstacle for companies and information systems to get further. When consumers ‘give up’ a part of their privacy and provide data, they can have a way better experience and easier life than when they do not. For me personally, I do not care so much about for example cookies when I am browsing, I know that these cookies help to provide a more personalized set of ads on for example my Facebook page. And of course, companies can be more efficient in targeting the customers through this.
I actually think that more and more people come to notice this, and therefore give up a bit of their privacy in order to gain the benefits. Does that make privacy a dead topic? I don’t think so, since it is more the way companies communicate their not-so-private ways of doing business. For example last weeks WhatsApp act: (1: Bloomberg.com, 6 sept 2016). Whatsapp users felt ‘betrayed’ that Facebook did not ask for their permission when implementing this change. I think that is exactly the point where companies fail in doing business with privacy: not being open and honest about it.
All in all, the ways of using customer information is still a learning point for companies, and I think when that gets fixed, people will clear up and see the benefits of losing a bit of their privacy as well. But for that to happen privacy has to stay alive for a while.
References:
1: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-29/whatsapp-privacy-changes-raise-eu-concern-over-user-data-control
Dear Luc,
Concerning the question adressed at the end of your article I would agree that privacy or at least your online privacy is dead. But the argumentation behind that answer could be the willingness the social media users have to give their personal information to make use of the free services.
The book “Online Marketing: A customer-Led Approach” by Gay R. et al. the possibility to maintain your personal data protected personal assistents or other staff could be trained or e-security could be used to disclosure personal details during business operations. Furthermore, I would assume that more services will be provided in the near future to ensure the privacy of business online because this is a problem concerning all businesses nowadays. (Gay, 2007)
Concluding, the question from me towards you sequential to yours is; Are the opportunities which come from using social medias greater than reduced privacy which comes with it?