Unwitting Exposure: Does Posting Personal Information Online Mean Giving up Privacy?

10/22/2006

“People who access the Internet for what have become routine functions — sending emails, writing blogs, and posting photos and information about themselves on social networking sites — do not realize how much of their personal privacy they put at risk, according to Wharton faculty and legal experts. Nor, they add, have the courts fully addressed the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for questionable purposes that encroach on privacy. ”

Kevin Werbach observes:

…[L]ots of situations that used to be private are now public. It’’s not a question of privacy but of social norms. Perhaps the answer is just, ”That’’s too bad.” If someone had snapped a photo of [the Korean girl who didn''t clean up after her dog on the subway] robbing a bank and she said, ”You can”t take a photo of me,” most of us would say, ”Too bad, you were robbing a bank.” In a perverse way, we”re going back to the small town where everyone knows what everyone else is doing by virtue of the global information superhighway. My point is, right or wrong, this is going to happen. Google is not going to go away.”

I agree that we may be moving to more of a “small town” environment, where your actions are known to many people, instead of you benefiting from the traditional anonymity of the big city. However, unfortunately so far there’’s very little evidence that this is resulting in an increase in standards of behavior, which would be my preferred outcome. Unfortunately, for broader societal reasons, we seem to be steadily defining deviancy down.

More at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1567.cfm

Posted by David Teten
in Chapter 17: Your Character, Miscellaneous, Social Network Research

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Tony 2 years ago 1 point
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Well I used to say it was "your choice" to give up your privacy and go "on line." Well that's just not the case. I know that if I google my name (funny how I/we use that as a verb) My name comes up with a lot of stuff from my past. Even when I was as young as 19. I'm 33 today. The internet has created a "small town" enviroment for sure and I know that there is a certain amount of privacy given up when going on line either in social networks or even your own blog. Either way even if you aren't connecting to the internet that way it still seems to be connecting with you. The Data Based You is out there whether you like it or not. With as much information that is collected on us on a daily basis from companies your privacy is at risk and the problem is so large that there are Federal Legislatioins and laws passed but doing little to help. I don't know there is any way to expect the government to protect your privacy much less your personal information. I beleive that the people will have to take repsonsability for their privacy but that's a whole other post.

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Ed Bejarana 2 years ago 1 point
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When it comes to choice, some privacy is forfit. Just like when I registered to vote, my age and mailing address became public record...or when I applied for a marriage license, my vital statistics (including a blood test) became public record...or when I applied for a drivers license, my driving record became public record. I could have chosen to NOT register and keep my information secret, but I didn't. So much to do about a choice. Participate online and some people will see your name and contact information--your choice.

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net socializing 2 years ago 1 point
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Net Socializing does put us out there for all to view. It's a chance I'm willing to take. I love Net Socializing.

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http://www.netsocializing.com