Privacy: Importance and Expectations

[Rigwyn]

So as we all know, there's been a bit of an upheaval regarding Ed Snowden's revelations of the spying programs employed by the US and other governments. Electronic communications of every sort are being vacuumed up and saved like it or not. If your communications get routed though the US or London, you can assume they have been recorded and may be searched at some point. Some folks would argue that there's no real harm in this - that we're better off trading this privacy in for security in the form of monitoring. Some argue that the removal of privacy inhibits people from speaking and exchanging ideas freely. Still others would argue that the governments that we kinda-sorta trust today could change and turn on us in the future and use this information against us. So, my question is: How important is privacy to you? Why is it important, and what expectations do you have on privacy?

[Ebonwumon]

Privacy is about 12 units of importance to me.

[cdmoreland]

Being an American I abhor what our government is doing. I knew about the black unmarked helicopters for years before our government admitted to it and I don't like that they can track and shut-down the newer vehicles from satellites. I don't carry a cell-phone and know that everything I do on the internet is known to the government and most any good hacker. I don't wear a tin-foil hat, I wear a WWII steel pot!

Not much one can do when the majority of people want the government to take care of them.

[LigH]

I used to live alone in a separate room in the "old office" of the company building during the work week, avoiding to commute daily (weekly is a bit cheaper then).

Since I have to share it temporarily with two co-workers, I know how valuable privacy can be.

A pity the administrative interceptions are not so blatantly obvious; the peoples would have protested a lot earlier if they could have noticed their loss of privacy.

[Rigwyn]

What's funny is how quickly you can get used to not having privacy. Where I work, we have no expectation of privacy whatsoever. Electronic communications in every form are assumed to be recorded. If you would not feel comfortable having something plastered all over the walls, then your don't say it. This puts a limit on your ability to express yourself freely. This may be ok for work, but its really not acceptable otherwise.

We use google and trust them with our search terms and with knowing which links we chose to click on, and how long we stayed at each site. We assume that they will use this in good faith to make money. It seems like a reasonable trade until you realize how heavily your are tracked. Some of these companies probably know far more about our browsing habits, our likes and dislikes that we do ourselves. Further, they have access to this very personal information, and we don't.

They can make predictions about our future purchasing decisions by analysing our usage data. If a company sees that I've visited 5 different websites to research laptops in the last 2 days, there's a good chance that throwing a laptop ad my way will result in a hit and possibly a purchase. Based on other pages that I perused, they might be able to match a specific machine and style to my preferences. If they see that I've also been looking for quotes on luxury items, then the might hit me with an ad that focuses more on style than price - saving the price slashing ads for those who visit sites like walmart.com or who download certain types of music that statistically correlate more strongly with those who are less affluent.

What's really creepy is the thought that this information could very easily be sold to other companies and advertisers without making any attempt to respect my privacy. Do I want my browsing history to be a factor when my next potential employer does a background check on me? Could it prevent me from getting a job, a credit card, or entrance into a school? Some of the damage done by harvesting and exploiting such information might be suffered but never detected.

[novacadian]

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Everyone has a profile but you can have a Dreamy Profile!

[Cirerey]

As another American I really wish I had a defined right to privacy, and the due process ability to know about and challenge data gathered about me. Defining my personal data as a part of my person would help a lot. Not that any of this is likely to happen anytime soon.

[Sen]

We experience at the moment that having this right doesn't mean more than written words on a paper.

Btw, your opinion is being recorded by your government.

[bilbous]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/07/18/f-vp-schlesinger-wonderful-world.html?cmp=rss
rose colored glasses? or the better things get the worse they get?

Privacy is an abstract notion that only exists if it is made to exist, sort of like your "inalienable rights"

[tman]

They can make predictions about our future purchasing decisions by analysing our usage data. If a company sees that I've visited 5 different websites to research laptops in the last 2 days, there's a good chance that throwing a laptop ad my way will result in a hit and possibly a purchase. Based on other pages that I perused, they might be able to match a specific machine and style to my preferences. If they see that I've also been looking for quotes on luxury items, then the might hit me with an ad that focuses more on style than price - saving the price slashing ads for those who visit sites like walmart.com or who download certain types of music that statistically correlate more strongly with those who are less affluent.

What I think is silly is that in my experience people seem to treat targeted advertising as an unquestionably negative thing.  So much so that I even had a roommate who, whenever he was watching Hulu, would purposely rate the advertisements as the opposite of how he actually felt because he didn't like the idea of Hulu "trying to sell him something."  To me that is just silly.  If I have to watch ads I would much rather see something I am interested in, like movies and video games, than random crap like make-up and car commercials.  To me targeted advertising is a good thing.  It prevents both me from wasting time and the advertiser from wasting money by showing me random crap I'm never going to buy.

Now obviously there's some stuff about my internet usage I wouldn't want them to sell to potential employers and stuff (for example, posting on the PS forums while at work    ).

[Rigwyn]

They can make predictions about our future purchasing decisions by analysing our usage data. If a company sees that I've visited 5 different websites to research laptops in the last 2 days, there's a good chance that throwing a laptop ad my way will result in a hit and possibly a purchase. Based on other pages that I perused, they might be able to match a specific machine and style to my preferences. If they see that I've also been looking for quotes on luxury items, then the might hit me with an ad that focuses more on style than price - saving the price slashing ads for those who visit sites like walmart.com or who download certain types of music that statistically correlate more strongly with those who are less affluent.

What I think is silly is that in my experience people seem to treat targeted advertising as an unquestionably negative thing.  So much so that I even had a roommate who, whenever he was watching Hulu, would purposely rate the advertisements as the opposite of how he actually felt because he didn't like the idea of Hulu "trying to sell him something."  To me that is just silly.  If I have to watch ads I would much rather see something I am interested in, like movies and video games, than random crap like make-up and car commercials.  To me targeted advertising is a good thing.  It prevents both me from wasting time and the advertiser from wasting money by showing me random crap I'm never going to buy.

Now obviously there's some stuff about my internet usage I wouldn't want them to sell to potential employers and stuff (for example, posting on the PS forums while at work    ).

I agree that there's a positive side to targeted advertising. I see ads for Craftsman tools instead of Tampax which is good for me and the advertiser. But what happens if the advertiser takes 5 years worth of my browsing history ( based on each website that I visit and that they track ) and then sells it to the nasty bill collectors who have been after me, or a fraudulent company who might use this information to scam me? In the wrong hands, that information could be very dangerous.

[yourcharname]

no

[Rigwyn]

There's an interesting firefox addon called Collusion which shows you how you are being tracked. In the photo below, you can see that scorecardsearch.com is potentially aware that I've visited Fox News, Guardian News and CNN. This is just a quick example that was generated after clicking a few sites. Having visited a site doesn't really mean all that much, but if they are tracking which pages your viewed, how long you remained on each page, ( as an indicator as to whether you read it or moved on ), what search phrases you used and so on, than there could be a substantial amount of information for them to harvest.

While this may not be all that harmful now, it has the potential for abuse.

Btw, your opinion is being recorded by your government.

xD

I'm sure your government is in bed with my government.... like everyone else's government.

[bilbous]

just make sure to search "how to hack web trackers to identify the people who benefit from spying on me" several hundred times a day.

[Sen]

There's an interesting firefox addon called Collusion which shows you how you are being tracked.

I just installed it on chrome - nice tool!

Privacy is not necessarily connected to real consequences like the examples with the employer. Privacy can be a feeling. I tell you a secret; I have quite some money in my easy accessible appartment. Noone's going to rob me now (I hope), but honestly, I don't need any discussion if I'm stupid or rich or both.
And I really don't feel well at all telling that. So usually, I don't and don't want anyone to know. It's an information about me, and thus it should be only me who decides who may know or not. Privacy is security and freedom.