This is my discussion topic this week. Privacy. I will keep this brief, because there are far too many avenues we could all go in with this issue. Let me just say this: Privacy is a thing of the past, but it doesn't mean that we are in big trouble.
Facebook, Google, MySpace and so many social networking sites (if not all) clearly state through their Statement of Rights & Responsibilities and Privacy Policies what is theirs and what is ours, what they give out and what they won't. It is a bit scary when you actually find out what those things are, however. Advertisers need information, geographic, gender, interests, hobbies, what games we play, what sites we visit and so on, in order to target advertise to each of us. (That is what those little ad boxes are doing on the right hand side of Facebook, by the way). So is our privacy, gone or not?
The part that gets me all the time are the companies making money to 'protect us' from these things. Here's an article about how to protect yourself that will blow your mind. Make certain you scroll down until you get to the part where the companies will help you remove information from Google, Yahoo, and the like. It is astronomical the price they charge...Click here
The discussion has been in full swing on my college board. What do you think? Do you use social networking sites?
I'm afraid this issue will be going on for a long time. The definition of privacy itself is vague. They feel as long as your specific name is not associated with the information it's ok to retrieve it. Thanks for bringing these issues to light!
ReplyDeletesadly this has been going on since the dawn of the internet. Information is free and freely taken. perhaps someday in the future we will have legalese to deal with it...
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