The Internet and changing expectations of privacy

[Zelig]

That is also, as far as I know, illegal.

Not in America.

It is however, against Facebook's terms of use.

 

[The_J]

Privacy is overrated. Unless you are a criminal or a psycho, who cares. No one cares about my boring life. My information may be out there, but no one is reading it.

Oh, the ignorance...
Okay, I take it. You don't care about your data? Then give us your data. Everything. To make sure that someone will read it, I tell you what I'm interested in.
Have you ever...
- sniffed on some panties? Which you maybe shouldn't? Like your sisters?
- ever been surprised while masturbating? By your mother?
- watched grannies in latex suites? Weird pissing porn? Do you like to be punished?
- had secret gay feelings? Watched the wrong scene of a porn film a bit longer than you should have? Thought about outing yourself? Or not, because your society treats that with the death sentence? Or because your parents might despise you?
- Thought about cutting yourself? Killing yourself? What would your beloved ones think? Whould they understand? Or would cause them an incredible grief?
- Do you have mental problems? Maybe someone in your family? Has your father an addiction? Is he an alcoholic? Did he batter you while you were a child? Your mother? Your sister?
- did you take drugs while you were young? Have you ever been caught? What would your empoyer say? Would you lose your job? Your new build house? Could you still take care of your family?
- did you notice contradictions in your company? Illegal labour? Improper handling of toxic waste? Improper handling of food? Baby food maybe? Thought about whistle blowing?
- ever drove to fast? Had an accident? A deadly one for another person, because you drunk? Did you confess that to your later wife? What would she say if she found out?

Nobody cares unless you're a criminal.
Ignorance must be bliss.

What, this all doesn't apply to you? Fine. You're not the world. There are 6 billion people out there to whom that might apply. And you think privacy is overrated for them?


Ontopic: we'll all be happy goldfishes. But not without a fight.
My thoughts are my own. Unless I'm a criminal nobody should be interested in them. That's the point, not the other way around.

 

[Borachio]

My thoughts are my own. Unless I'm a criminal nobody should be interested in them. That's the point, not the other way around.

This.

 

[Flying Pig]

Oh, the ignorance...
Okay, I take it. You don't care about your data? Then give us your data. Everything. To make sure that someone will read it, I tell you what I'm interested in.
Have you ever...
- sniffed on some panties? Which you maybe shouldn't? Like your sisters?
- ever been surprised while masturbating? By your mother?
- watched grannies in latex suites? Weird pissing porn? Do you like to be punished?
- had secret gay feelings? Watched the wrong scene of a porn film a bit longer than you should have? Thought about outing yourself? Or not, because your society treats that with the death sentence? Or because your parents might despise you?
- Thought about cutting yourself? Killing yourself? What would your beloved ones think? Whould they understand? Or would cause them an incredible grief?
- Do you have mental problems? Maybe someone in your family? Has your father an addiction? Is he an alcoholic? Did he batter you while you were a child? Your mother? Your sister?
- did you take drugs while you were young? Have you ever been caught? What would your empoyer say? Would you lose your job? Your new build house? Could you still take care of your family?
- did you notice contradictions in your company? Illegal labour? Improper handling of toxic waste? Improper handling of food? Baby food maybe? Thought about whistle blowing?
- ever drove to fast? Had an accident? A deadly one for another person, because you drunk? Did you confess that to your later wife? What would she say if she found out?

If you're stupid enough to put any of that on the internet, you deserve everything you get! I generally subscribe to the view that nobody really cares enough to look at most of the things that they can (yes, you might be able to see into my kitchen from the right place in the neighbour's house, but is he really going to stand there and watch me cook?), which is especially true when the Government are given the power to 'snoop' on people - they're not going to check up on you simply because they can't be bothered to spy on everyone. However, I've always been taught not to reveal unneccessary personal information to people in general, so perhaps I've got a slightly different attitude to what I put on the internet to most people.

My thoughts are my own. Unless I'm a criminal nobody should be interested in them. That's the point, not the other way around.

Indeed, which is why I don't put my deepest, darkest secrets all over CFC. I mean, I haven't even told you where the bodies are buried

 

[Disgustipated]

Oh, the ignorance...
Okay, I take it. You don't care about your data? Then give us your data. Everything. To make sure that someone will read it, I tell you what I'm interested in.
Have you ever...
- sniffed on some panties? Which you maybe shouldn't? Like your sisters?
- ever been surprised while masturbating? By your mother?
- watched grannies in latex suites? Weird pissing porn? Do you like to be punished?
- had secret gay feelings? Watched the wrong scene of a porn film a bit longer than you should have? Thought about outing yourself? Or not, because your society treats that with the death sentence? Or because your parents might despise you?
- Thought about cutting yourself? Killing yourself? What would your beloved ones think? Whould they understand? Or would cause them an incredible grief?
- Do you have mental problems? Maybe someone in your family? Has your father an addiction? Is he an alcoholic? Did he batter you while you were a child? Your mother? Your sister?
- did you take drugs while you were young? Have you ever been caught? What would your empoyer say? Would you lose your job? Your new build house? Could you still take care of your family?
- did you notice contradictions in your company? Illegal labour? Improper handling of toxic waste? Improper handling of food? Baby food maybe? Thought about whistle blowing?
- ever drove to fast? Had an accident? A deadly one for another person, because you drunk? Did you confess that to your later wife? What would she say if she found out?

Nobody cares unless you're a criminal.
Ignorance must be bliss.

What, this all doesn't apply to you? Fine. You're not the world. There are 6 billion people out there to whom that might apply. And you think privacy is overrated for them?


Ontopic: we'll all be happy goldfishes. But not without a fight.
My thoughts are my own. Unless I'm a criminal nobody should be interested in them. That's the point, not the other way around.

Good response. I have no problem answering those questions because I'm a moral person, and don't have an embarrassing past. I can see how some people would have problems answering those things. In that case, they shouldn't share them on the internet. This is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. If you are dumb enough to share such information on Facebook, you get what you deserve.

 

[Borachio]

Indeed, which is why I don't put my deepest, darkest secrets all over CFC.

This.

 

[Azash]

Not in America.

It is however, against Facebook's terms of use.

It is that, yes. It is also not illegal by itself, but it answers several questions that are illegal to ask of job applicants. Facebook has threatened legal action and three weeks ago, the Attourney General was asked to investigate it as well.

 

[Leoreth]

Good post The_J. And even that's all running on the assumption that you're controlling your personal information in the first place.

Seriously, I don't know if I would want to be a teenager these days, where you can be caught in embarrassing circumstances, or become victim of bullying and thanks to the abundance of smartphones it's recorded and put online immediately to remain there forever.

 

[holy king]

our lives are becoming transparent. not just for big brother, but for every other individual that cares.

i'm not sure this development can be halted in any way, and i'm not even sure if it's a negative development overall.

 

[The_J]

If you're stupid enough to put any of that on the internet, you deserve everything you get! I generally subscribe to the view that nobody really cares enough to look at most of the things that they can (yes, you might be able to see into my kitchen from the right place in the neighbour's house, but is he really going to stand there and watch me cook?), which is especially true when the Government are given the power to 'snoop' on people - they're not going to check up on you simply because they can't be bothered to spy on everyone. However, I've always been taught not to reveal unneccessary personal information to people in general, so perhaps I've got a slightly different attitude to what I put on the internet to most people.

Sure, the government might not be interested in you. In YOU.
But tell that a reporter in Syria, in Northern Korea, in Burma.
And you'll never know when you'll come in a situation, which will be uncomfortable to you.
You're (or were) a soldier, right? What if someone took your joke about the bodies seriously? Because well, you're trained. Nobody would? Really?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-arrested-destroy-America-Twitter-jokes.html

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'.

Nobody would take a joking comment on the internet for serious?



And who's talking about the government? Other people and institutions could abuse that too.
Tell a stalking victim that nobody is interested in him/her.
Tell that a rape victim.

Indeed, which is why I don't put my deepest, darkest secrets all over CFC. I mean, I haven't even told you where the bodies are buried

Good response. I have no problem answering those questions because I'm a moral person, and don't have an embarrassing past. I can see how some people would have problems answering those things. In that case, they shouldn't share them on the internet. This is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. If you are dumb enough to share such information on Facebook, you get what you deserve.

We're not only talking about the internet , it's about general privacy. So also your mail, your phone calls, your motion profile.
You don't put such things normally on FB, sure, but still the information is there, and if it was freely available it could be abused.

Good post The_J. And even that's all running on the assumption that you're controlling your personal information in the first place.

....which you don't.
I take care about my privacy. But that might not be enough.
Did anyone here know that there are studies about if you can deduct a persons sexual orientation based on his FB friends? Obviously that even works.
Edit: Where....ah...here's the link.

Seriously, I don't know if I would want to be a teenager these days, where you can be caught in embarrassing circumstances, or become victim of bullying and thanks to the abundance of smartphones it's recorded and put online immediately to remain there forever.

I'm waiting for the day at which I'll see a girl who I know (and like...and maybe love) on a porn site, because her previous butthole boyfriend let some snapshot program run during their intimate online sessions...I don't know what I'll do.

 

[Leoreth]

Exactly. It's getting pretty nightmarish the more you think about it, even if you don't involve Orwellian governments.

 

[Flying Pig]

You're (or were) a soldier, right? What if someone took your joke about the bodies seriously? Because well, you're trained. Nobody would? Really?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-arrested-destroy-America-Twitter-jokes.html

Immigration people intentionally have no sense of humour (that's why you sometimes see notices at airports not to joke about terrorism and the like, because they have to take it all seriously). I'm increasingly seeing your point on this thread, but I still disagree that we have anything to worry about from the Government - or more accurately, I'm convinced that we have so little to fear from the Government (except in exceptional circumstances of major misunderstanding) that it is vastly outweighed by the security benefits that such laws provide to said Government.

Tell a stalking victim that nobody is interested in him/her.
Tell that a rape victim.

This again comes down to how much information you put online. I know I don't exactly live a secret life on here, but I deliberately won't put my real name, my address, my telephone number, or anything like that here - anything I write here, people are welcome to read. Yes, I'd probably be embarrassed if you dug up one of my old history articles and said 'did you really write that rubbish?', but I wouldn't have a real problem with it. I've always said that you should treat the internet like any other public place, and writing something here is like writing it on a poster and sticking it up in public.

 

[The_J]

Exactly. It's getting pretty nightmarish the more you think about it, even if you don't involve Orwellian governments.

Even the proto stage is scaring enough (I know, not your point, but still wanted to say it).

Immigration people intentionally have no sense of humour (that's why you sometimes see notices at airports not to joke about terrorism and the like, because they have to take it all seriously).

I totally understand that, but the point was more that it was a twitter comment, which prevented their holiday. Not a joke at the airport. But a ridicilous joke on Twitter.

I'm increasingly seeing your point on this thread, but I still disagree that we have anything to worry about from the Government - or more accurately, I'm convinced that we have so little to fear from the Government (except in exceptional circumstances of major misunderstanding) that it is vastly outweighed by the security benefits that such laws provide to said Government.

Our government...yes, maybe, at the moment.
But there are other governments, which are more dangerous.
And "dangerous" is not a bool value, not true and false, there are shades. Is it currently dangerous? Maybe not. Will it become more dangerous if it continues like that? Yes. Maybe not the total control, but it's dangerous before. There's no point where you can say "this here is the step from freedom to total surveillance", it's a gradual process.
And if we don't complain now, the process will continue, until it's too late.

This again comes down to how much information you put online. I know I don't exactly live a secret life on here, but I deliberately won't put my real name, my address, my telephone number, or anything like that here - anything I write here, people are welcome to read. Yes, I'd probably be embarrassed if you dug up one of my old history articles and said 'did you really write that rubbish?', but I wouldn't have a real problem with it. I've always said that you should treat the internet like any other public place, and writing something here is like writing it on a poster and sticking it up in public.

I totally agree on that. But sadly not everyone is aware of that :/.

 

[Borachio]

our lives are becoming transparent. not just for big brother, but for every other individual that cares.

i'm not sure this development can be halted in any way, and i'm not even sure if it's a negative development overall.

this.

 

[Mise]

First of all, the crap that Big Brother is "Well-restrained". Yeah right.

What the hell are you talking about? The biggest threats to privacy by far are Google and Facebook.

 

[Borachio]

Yes but no-one is obliged to post data to Facebook or to buy stuff through the Internet, although it is fast becoming the only way to shop.

 

[mayor]

What does that last word of the threadtitle mean?

 

[Borachio]

Privacy (from Latin: privatus "separated from the rest, deprived of something, esp. office, participation in the government", from privo "to deprive") is the ability of ...

Watch out! You'll be slated for not doing research! edit: I'm still smarting from my recent slating

 

[Mise]

If you're stupid enough to put any of that on the internet, you deserve everything you get!

This is a completely idiotic statement that demonstrates an utter lack of understanding of how the internet works in 2012.

Whenever you search for anything, Google knows that YOU have searched for it. If you search for a suicide hotline or online forum that helps suicidal teenagers, Google will know that you, specifically, have searched for it. If you go onto a website that displays Google's adverts or uses Google's analytics and software (which is pretty much every website - bbc news and wikipedia are the only ones in my favourites that don't track you), Google will know that YOU have been on that website. If Google ever decided to, it could let the whole world know that you are a suicidal teenager. Or what kind of pornography you enjoy. Or that you have erectile dysfunction. Or that you have a mental illness. These are the kinds of things that can destroy marriages. These are the kinds of things that you can lose your job over. These are the kinds of private information that should never be held without your consent. Did you consent to Google knowing your entire browsing history?

You don't need to "put" anything on the internet for it to be recorded for all time. Nearly everything you have done on the internet for the past 5 years or so is recorded somewhere, and it's all traceable back to you.

 

[Borachio]

True.