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Personal Privacy Trench Warfare
I am interested in how our personal information and usage habits are used by web companies as a business model to support the free services they provide. It is shocking that their policies can change, a company can alter the terms of use and have it applied retroactively (ie: facebook) This is all well and good not, while we, the users, still have a great deal of power to influence policy (Change Your Terms of Service Back NOW), but these grounds are always being tested, and I would venture to say that the Facebook policy change was just that, a test.
Compared directly against relatively anonomised residual data, such as Google tracking and analyzing of our browsing habits, Facebook data collection seems invasive, like someone peering into your HS yearbook to look for insider marketing tips on teens. Their tracking seems somewhat innocent, it is used to sell us things better, it's not big brother following us through our O so interesting lives. Why worry when keeping the users happy is in the best interest of Facebook the business? They need to make money and to make more money they need millions of happy users happily surrendering their privacy, one trench at a time. How are they going to do this you ask?
Trench warfare between user privacy and the advertiser/application. Regardless of how intentional the recent events were, they are now be studied as tests. We should watch out, we are playing games with our privacy whether we like it or not. 2 major concerns.
:::: What is in a companies best interest is not your best interest. It is important to realize that although they may be providing you with a service you appreciate, together you have made no contract.
::: "Critical Mass." My lack of fear is based on this idea that the users are still in control. If Facebook begins actively and visibly leveraging users data, users will flee to a competing service and Facebook will loose money. But, really, how willing are users to drop their investment in Facebook?
The most powerful example of personal privacy being tested online certainly the last.fm u2 album leak fiasco. The fear that last.fm users information was being shared with record companies around the u2 album leak (article) lead to many users deleting their accounts and abandoning the service entirely. What does this say? Even with the hard stats, would have no way to judge the significance of those numbers. But this idea that at last.fm, both users and employees would revolt is empowering for the masses, and since no event in recent memory exists, this fear of revolt is paralyzing for all involved. So here we are…'personal privacy trench warfare.'
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about me
I am investigating interfaces, interaction techniques, and visualization methods that help people understand their lives through exploring their own personal information
Check out my current projects - atomate, eyebrowse and poyozo
email: brennanmoore@gmail.com
twitter: @zamiang
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