So, it's been a while since I last successfully blogged. There are quite a few perspectives from which this could be considered a good thing: after all, the last thing the world needs at this point is another person pontificating from behind their keyboard, over the internet. However, some people have suggested that they have enjoyed some of what I've written in the past, so at least for now, I will giving writing another shot. How long this lasts is yet to be seen, but what would life be without a little excitement?
What will I write about, I hear you ask? Whatever comes to mind. If I feel like writing about science, I will. If I feel like writing about epistemology, I will. If I feel like writing about politics, I will, and I'm sure I'll regret it once I've done it. To begin with, however, I shall talk about human rights. More specifically, I'll talk about privacy.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, recently suggested in response to the privacy settings furore that "People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people." Privacy, according to Zuckerberg, is no longer a primary concern, at least not for the newest members of the internet generation.
Does he have a point? Kind of. It's clear that most people I interact with have a very different idea of what degree of privacy they could reasonably expect than their parents do, or even their grandparents. But I suspect that, in reality, this different idea does not extend anywhere like as far as Zuckerberg would like to believe.
For some degree of clarity, Facebook's position (and, by proxy, Zuckerberg's) is that, in general, people are happy sharing every piece of information they have provided to Facebook with everybody in the world, regardless of whether or not they know them. Now, it's my suspicion that, actually, most people are not aware of quite how significant some of this information can be. If they were, I expect that suddenly the average Facebook Joe would suddenly care a great deal about who is able to access that information.
However, I am not here to discuss the merits, or otherwise, of Facebook's privacy policy. This has been done enough, and while it's something that people should continue to bear in mind, it's not something to which I can contribute in any significant fashion. Better minds than mine have already joined in. Instead, I'll suggest something to you. I contend that, in today's information era, privacy is more important than it was before, not less.
Consider the world as it was in the 1900s. To gather information on someone required quite significant legwork. The quantity of information most people had on you was quite small, and it was very difficult to cross-reference in order to build up this data. Furthermore, if someone wanted information, they had to talk to someone, in person, in order to get it. For instance, if someone wanted your medical history, they would have to go to your doctor to find it out, who would at least require a passable explanation or a mid-level bribe. These are not strong checks and balances, but someone who wanted to find out a great deal about you would have to really care about it in order to do it.
What about now? Well, let's start with Facebook, as I've already mentioned it. If you don't change your default privacy settings, I can search for your name and immediately learn several things. If you've been honest, and provided a middling level of information for features and for friends, then I can find out your email address, your phone number (for mobile Facebook, obviously), what you look like, who your friends are, what you do with your time, any bad habits (those last 4 from photographs alone), what you think on certain issues (from status updates), where you went to school and/or university, where you have worked and do work, and if you're in a relationship (although that's a bit stalkerish). If you're a particular sharer, it's quite possible that I'll be able to extrapolate out to your political views, your biases, your work ethic and any ways in which you might be subject to social engineering (look it up).
This is quite a quantity of information, although for many of you it probably seems quite innocuous. However, that's only the start. By using this information in other locations, I could find out how you did in your degree, what your previous employers thought of you, if you have a criminal record, and so on. The possibilities are quite impressive. At the very least, I could bust into your email account, because let's be honest, you probably don't have a sufficiently secure password. (Actually, quite a few of my readers are pretty tech-savvy, so they might be doing a bit better on the password front.)
There is a pretty solid argument for making this information at least a little difficult to find. This information can, in a best case scenario, be used to market to you or to target you for specific ad campaigns or promotions. However, at worst, it can be used to commit identity fraud, which begins with simple theft of money and ends with a crippling inability to use many public services that require your identity information due to the fact that the thief has already claimed those services.
Obviously, you can't keep this information completely private. If you want to buy anything online, or take out a loan, or perform all sorts of necessary tasks, then you'll need to tell people things about yourself. However, if you're sufficiently careful, then you can prevent yourself being subject to a more casual kind of attack. And that there is my point. If you think privacy isn't important, you're making the assumption that everyone in the world who can get access to that information is well behaved and nice. That assumption pretty clearly won't stand.
And that there is why I disagree with Zuckerberg. I think most people are willing to accept a little inconvenience in their lives for the sake of preventing everyone in the world seeing that little slip-up where you totally accidentally tripped on the step of your friend's house after that big night and revealed to everyone that actually, you're not a natural redhead. (I have no idea why the protagonist of that little diversion was female, and I apologise to women everywhere for it. Or maybe it was a guy who likes dying their hair. Red. Anyway, I digress.) Or, you know, preventing any random passerby from deciding that they reckon they can get into your email account. After all, it happened to Sarah Palin, and if it happened to her it could definitely happen to you.
Take care everyone, I'll see you when I see you.
