Do we control our privacy?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/16/justice/new-jersey-rutgers-trial/?hpt=hp_t1

Privacy is a strange topic. There is a comedic line “I cannot pee when you are looking at me.” As self-aware beings we understand our actions and how they affect perceptions of other people. Dogs do not care if you watch; they go when they “gotta” go. Waste movements are something that we understand everyone does and must do. But when we talk about sexuality, oh wait that is taboo so we do not talk about sexuality openly and talking about sexuality can lead to awkward moments nobody likes.

We understand that with the new privacy policy from Google it is difficult to know what is known about your private life. When you get on the computer and browse the Internet you start to think and wonder who all is tracking you. Paranoia manifests from uncertainty.

In the previous article, linked above, a student committed suicide because of an invasion of privacy. Understanding our privacy and being aware of who knows what is fundamental to living a healthy life. A life where we do not develop mental insecurities that prohibits us from functioning in a social environment.

Ravi, the roommate found guilty of invasion of privacy, did not make public his webcam when he discovered the sexual intercourse. In fact, the situation did not blowup until the roommate jumped off the bridge. Becoming aware of what others find out about your personal life is dangerous.

The information we reveal about ourselves while using computers connected to the Internet or while being monitored is shocking. We are generally not aware of what we are revealing about ourselves and when the time comes that we become aware that there is a database that knows more about our persons than we do will be a day of fear and chaos. Radical decisions will be made when people are told private information that they thought was private. There is an introduction to this with financial security on the Internet. People can go bankrupt over night by a key logger. Yes, there is a way to recover but change this to information about whom you are that affects your psyche and how people perceive you. Will you be able to show your face around the office again without fear of people shunning you or will you become more introverted and anti-social?

To Google and advertising we are a product. Their interest is limited to how they can make money off of our needs and wants. What we need to worry about is when our private lives will not be in our control.

One Click Privacy Bill

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/white-house-unveils-one-click-online-privacy-plan/

The government is on board with citizens being able to browse the web without someone looking over their shoulder. This bill will essentially allow a click-able option for the user to decide if they want to be tracked or not.

The strangeness of this is that companies like Google have been doing this over the shoulder business for years. There is a saying that when someone provides you a service without charging for it, you are likely the product being sold. And that is how search engines generate revenue.

Now when say Google goes to implement this tracking option I assume it will be default set to "let us track you" so first, people who are unaware of it won't be turning it off. Second, they may be able to hide it within the options settings so that people forget to change it. But I think the biggest impact will be that people will become more apathetic about the whole thing because they know that they have an option regardless if they use it or not.

Privacy on the Internet

Google changed their privacy policy or simplified as they told their users. If you are a Google user then there is a very high chance you are aware of it and also that you are not in agreement with the changes they made.

You are not alone. AdWeek is publishing articles for the public to keep up with the heat Google is getting over this change in privacy policy. The FTC is being pressured into giving Google grief over this policy change. And for good reason. It is likely that the new privacy policy is an infringement on the agreement that Google originally formed with the FTC. Googlers are concerned that they have been told one thing while business partners of Google are being told another.

Search Engine Watch is another site that keeps a few eyes on Google. The link will take you to an article about a change Google made before this privacy policy but is relevant to privacy. For webmasters it is important to know how people get to your site when they come from a search engine. What keywords commonly bring people to your site and what are the alternative keywords that bring people in less often. Knowing the alternatives allows a webmaster to optimize the site so they will appear for more robust search terms. Now, Google decided that if a person was logged into Google then webmasters will not be allowed to see their keywords, even when using Google Analytics (A popular tool to accomplish the previously mentioned task).

At first you may say well, that is not so bad because I don't want people seeing all my personal details. Unfortunately, these are not your personal details; this is just a way for an audience analysis without sending out surveys and holding interviews and focus groups. It is cost effective and does not bother users. In fact it allows people starting up a website to figure out how to become more successful and not get drowned out by powerhouse, fortune 500 or popular, companies.

Ok, now to tackle the real issue, your privacy on the Internet. One of the main problems associated with Googles new policy is where it sets the reasonable expectation for privacy on the Internet. This is a huge concept when dealing with personal or sensitive information. If Google is going to lower the bar for privacy expectations will this ultimately give the government or other companies power we do not want them to have? What sort of long term effects does this have real potential of having? (Yes, I am getting close to the slippery slope but think about whether or not you think there may be some hidden danger no person expects, possibly not even Google.)

On a quasi-relevant note, organizations like law firms, doctors, and others that deal with client confidentiality need to get their mail off Google if that is how they currently communicate with their clients and have confidential information going back and forth. That is the next big lawsuit waiting to happen. "My doctor didn't keep my health records private because he used Google mail and they have leaked out all over the Internet now" a wordy headline but imminent.

My Voice

My voice counts. Your voice counts. But it counts less when we don't understand what our voice is and what makes each of our voices unique. Think, for a moment, do you have the same ideas and agreements as the people you interact on a daily basis? Do you truly challenge what they say or they believe?

Take a step back from yourself and look and try and see if you are just floating along with everyone agreeing because it sounds good. (Note: I'm not saying you are wrong or that you need to do something radical, but asking that you pay attention to the details of your life and see if you are able to pinpoint your unique qualities.) Now, if you are just floating along and you don't see anything wrong with what is going on and you truly believe that everything is going as it should you are forfeiting your right to the freedom of speech. You are censoring yourself. Big media corps. activists, and all the other people who want you to think a certain way believe certain things are free to push you any way they want when you do not understand your voice and what makes it yours.

I am still finding my voice but to find it I must first look.

Currently, I believe that a large portion of my education has been wasted. Part of it I must blame on myself. In the past my motivation was nearly nothing which lead to me not participating in the world. The other half I blame on the education system believing it can put students on a metaphorical conveyor belt and push them through an assembly line to build them into members of the working world. No, this is not how it should work. When my capstone class involves me reading a book that requires me having working world experience and the teacher repeatedly asks about our world experiences yet gets nothing from us because we are all students trying to learn how to get the experience I feel ripped off. When that same class involves work that 5th graders can do, I feel ripped off. When I sit in a class and listen to my teacher talk about growing up with computers and watching them evolve, I feel ripped off. When I can read a book and get everything out of it that the class would give me I know I have been ripped off. Teachers should teach. I am literate, I can read and understand a book, I do not need a teacher to make a powerpoint for me highlighting the key parts, I need a teacher who can help me achieve goals by teaching me how to address and solve problems.

I am aggravated when people want to censor the voice of those who are taught and led to believe their voice matters without educating them on what would be an appropriate or acceptable way, regardless if the person chooses to conform. But people want to hide the truth when it hurts them, when its bad for publicity.

It is vital to understand your voice and know that it is important and should not be censored. I do not want to force my ideas into another head. You may not agree with my previous opinion on education but if your disagreement is not marked with your voice then you are censored.

A Brief Look at Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property is receiving more and more media attention. The concept has existed since mankind began creating. Now, governments are trying to increase the protection people have over intellectual property. With the internet allowing for peer-2-peer file sharing it is easier than ever to pirate songs, movies, audio books, even programs that include cracks to bypass product registration. With the fall of Mega Upload, a once popular website allowing for users to upload files, get a link, and share the link with friends or whomever they pleased, torrents will become more popular. Now, if you go to the Mega Upload website you will be greeted by a FBI anti-piracy warning. Torrent programs have been punished in the past and are still being punished. Napster was one of the first. Allowing users to "illegally download" music back when 56k was big, when we all had @aol.com addresses, and when the idea of being able to download a three minute song in ten minutes was mind blowing. Napster didn't let that bring them down. They turned a new cheek and surfaced in the music community as a paid subscription service like iTunes.

iTunes allows people to download songs, movies, podcasts, and more at low costs to the users. Then, there are other services which allow people access to all the intellectual property that is so easily shared. Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and the list goes on but those three names are universal to the majority of people. Videos and music are top commodities people want to find on the internet. The want people have for these two things is so big that it drives people to commit federal crimes, to be felons. Producers of intellectual property that comes in the form of audio or video entertainment/education lose money when people provide pirating services. Even though it is not killing the industry it still hurts them and in turn causes them to push back resulting in congress trying to pass bills like SOPA.

But then there is also Linux which is a free OS. The Internet is bringing on a change to Intellectual Property and how people treat it as never seen before. On one side people want to make money off of their creation but when it is put on the Internet the ability for people to pay nothing for it hurts the producer. And then there are people who ask nothing for their Intellectual Property or they ask for donations if you like it so they can continue to improve the product.