Privacy

As Americans we have always been concerned with privacy. Some site the fourth amendment, search and seizure, as an example of the value our founding fathers placed on privacy. Of course that amendment deals primarily with the power that law enforcement officials have to obtain evidence in the investigation of a crime, or indeed, a suspected crime. The matter has been debated ever since, with various laws and legal opinions being issued. However, all of these arguments have primarily addressed government’s handling of our personal information. Businesses, or fellow citizens are another matter.

Which bring us to the greatest clearing house of personal information, our old friend the Internet. Like a giant black hole, the ‘net sucks in information about us, no matter how cagey, or guarded we are. What’s on the other side of the black hole is anyone’s guess. Of course businesses have been doing this for ages, well before the web sank its roots into out cultural soil. Direct mail thrived on this gathering of information. The things you bought with your credit cards, how much you bought, where you bough it, the magazines you subscribe to---are all good indications of the kind of junk mail you might like to find in the post. Or not.

While the practice had a hint of creepiness, it was, for the most part, viewed as innocuous. So I buy a Cleveland Browns jacket, and I get an NFL catalog in the mail from a separate company. Big deal. I might even look at the catalog, and order more stuff. Nice marketing.

The Internet has made this a bit more worrisome, perhaps because of how vast it is. OK I don’t mind an NFL catalog showing up in my mailbox, even my e-mail inbox. I have “junk email” account for such things, and I often find some nice deals and coupons that way.

What bothers most people, I think, and this may be stating the obvious, is that we just don’t know exactly what information about us is out there, or who exactly is looking at it. Even to a marketer I’m a dull guy. I like my pro sports, the new wave music and comedy. It’s other stuff that I’m not real sure anyone needs to know, even if it is equally has harmless. Stuff I bought my wife, newspaper stories I looked up---come to think of it, what about stuff taken out of context? Things I looked up to parody or satire in the course of my comedy writing or journalism pursuits? Do I trust just anyone to discern why I’m looking up say, a map of Central America? Am I up to no good, planning an escape, a vacation, or curious about pre-Colombian civilization. It’s the latter if you’re wondering Ms. or Mr. marketer.

Businesses argue that Facebook and Twitter show that your garden-variety Internet user talks a good game when it comes to privacy, but is really just hypocritical. I disagree. With Facebook and Twitter you have some measure of control over who is seeing your posts. Some people are exhibitionists of sorts, and don’t care who sees what. Others just like to keep friends, family and some acquaintances up to date.

Someone once said “don’t so anything online that you wouldn’t do in the town square,” and that’s probably sound advice. However, a lot of people might view a one on one conversation in public as still private. We’ll never get the genie back in the bottle, and folks appear to be willing to expect a certain level of risk in exchange for the convenience and power of the web. If the worst should come to the worst, you can always just opt out---totally.