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The Virtual Revolution: 3 - The Cost of Free

The theme for the third episode of The Virtual Revolution presented by Aleks Krotoski covers the issue of privacy and the divulging of personal information online. Our online actions and habits are tracked and recorded allowing highly specific targeted Internet advertisements and product recommendations on sites such as Amazon. This for the proprietor of consumer services is the holy grail of targeted inexpensive personal selling.

Aleks Krotoski opens the episode with:

This is the story of the individual, moral and social cost of free? And whether that is a price worth paying?

Quote 1: The Cost of Free, credit Aleks Krotoski.

I believe that in return for free services we can expect to give away information about ourselves but it should handled in a sensitive manner and not as a cheap commodity. Where by retailers can freely buy and sell information about potential future customers.

Trends show we are increasingly divulging more and more information about ourselves on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Emerging mobile based social networks allow users to publishing their current location from GPS enabled phones. Foursquare or Gowalla can publish this information to Twitter to alert friends and followers on your current location. I have tried both of these services and found them both interesting technology use cases for social networking. But I feel uncomfortable publishing this information and have ceased using them.

The trend I am continueing to see is how freely we live with our thoughts, desires and location in the public on Facebook and Twitter. Is privacy dead or digital exhibitionism alive? Scott McNealy the co-founder and chairman of Sun Microsystems Inc. famously said:

Privacy is dead, get over it.

Quote 2: Google and privacy, credit John C. Dvorak.

I find this statement like John C. Dvorak this an extremely cavalier and repugnant attitude to personal privacy. I do however respect this statement when you consider the simple fact, what we do on the web, will always be public. As we continue to publish increasing amounts of information onto the web about ourselves I personally believe that the vast majority of people using such services do not understand that once something is published to the Internet they may lose control of their data. It maybe republished onto other site wish others do not have control over or it will be saved into the cache of a search engine such as Google being stored for an indeterminate length of time.

The 'Think before you post' was the idea behind the Safer Internet Day campaign for 2010. The thesis of the campaign is to raise awareness that you loose control of both your own image and content when you publish to the Internet. I think that it is important that users of location based social networks should think about the possible links and consider the next time they Twitter, 'I am just popping out to the gym'. When you are putting this information out to the Internet on services like Twitter it will become searchable and accessible to all.

Pleaserobme.com is a service which highlight the dangers of publishing your present location. The site suggests to would be robbers potential jobs based upon Twitters stating the user has left home. I find the services assuming but I firmly believe that it is the responsibility of the users to protect their identity and public image online. More care and consideration should be taken by users of social networks and Internet services. There is a cost associated to free services and it is your privacy.

Links

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qx4vy
3. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eric-schmidt-google-and-privacy-2009-12-11
4. http://pleaserobme.com/

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence