Are websites like Facebook and Myspace an approval from my generation that privacy is not important?
One of my “conspiracy theories” are that we are headed for a complete surveillance state similar to the UK. NYC is installing surveillance cameras all over the city. In combination with The Real ID Act, section 202(b)(9), a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements, (notice how drivers licenses are now scannable and digital), whoever is in charge of surveillance cameras, can track whoever is in the area.
Are sites like myspace and facebook, where users often do not think twice about putting all information about themselves on these sites(myspace is also owned by Rupert Murdoch), means of easing people into being lenient of authority invading our privacy as long as it will “keep us safe?”
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16 Answers
I don’t think they are a psyop or anything, but I agree that it seems people don’t really care about their privacy. To me it’s not so much the government. it’s the advertisers that bother me. Personalized advertising really gets to me.
btko said, “Personalized advertising really gets to me.”
Nicely done! GA!
The movie Minority Report comes to mind.
But most people get burned by the overshare fairly early on, after that they sometimes become privacy freaks.
Now, having said that, certainly lots of people don’t care and continue to overshare. The thing is, I think most of them would say they choose to overshare, it’s something they do that is cathartic. It’s not done to them and they don’t want it on a systemic level.
No one is holding a gun to your head yet to
1. use a social networking site
2. put up all your personal information on the site
3. put up correct personal information on the site
If you choose to do so, then I think you have given some tacit approval for a part of your “private” life to be given away. I mean, how private a life does a person want when they put up pictures of keg stands?
Sacaver: The only reason why I recently got back on Facebook is because I found out that a friend of mine had been posting pictures of me. The issue I had with that is many of his friends on Facebook are my old estranged friends who really should have no business knowing anything about my life now.
I think they’re a sign that people don’t think seriously about privacy until it’s too late.
Nimis-good point. And it makes me wonder if anyone has brought legal action towards someone who did just that. A good friend would remove the pictures if asked. But has there been a case where someone asked the court to force images to be removed?
I wonder what people in Witness Protection do about things like Facebook. I mean, what if your entire family went in for whatever reason and your kid was in high school or whatever. MySpace and Facebook… it’d be insane trying to stay off.
Sacaver: Not sure? But would be curious to know.
All the privacy issue thing is complete BS. I mean come on your credit card company has a lot more info about you then facebook and you dont see people complaining about it. Ever bothered to read a credit card’s fine print ? Some of them actually sell your buying behaviors for market research
Mirza: Isn’t that kind of a different issue?
Related, sure. But different nonetheless?
No I don’t. I think that most people look at those things as ways to communicate. It’d be like equivocating the fact that people blog about whatever they want and they’re saying they don’t care about security as much. Or even twitter. I think that more and more people are getting used to a thoroughly invasive society where everything is transparent (soon including clothes… ewwwww) because everyone should know everything about you. It’s akin to running a credit report on someone who’s applying for a job. Seriously. I’m probably applying because I need money. And if I have crappy credit, I probably REALLY need the job.
So no. I don’t think it’s saying, “Hey welcome to my life! Know everything about me!” I think we’re saying, “Hey friends. This is my expression of myself on the internet!” Personally, I keep my myspace private – but the only people on mine are friends and family of mine and my wifes.
I would say that the amount of privacy on those sites is all about how much you put into it. If you don’t want people know that much about you, don’t give it to them. But yes, a large percent of our generation do seem to be using it to push much too much out. Maybe it’s wrong or dangerous, but it’s all about personal preference.
Yes. People on social networking sites assume that since everyone else has their information out there, they can broadcast everything about THEIR lives too and they won’t be signled out by anyone.
It also shows the dirty little human trend of wanting everyone to know what you did, what you like, what you’re good at, what you think, etc.
The information shared is selected by the person. The information doesn’t have to be real. I think some people just create an identity that they want the world to see.
Now when the government creates a version of facebook and requires us to keep an updated profile and report on our activities…I will get worried.
However, I think privacy is very sensitive and should not be taken lightly.
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