Tracking the world as our privacy slips into the past…
A lot of the problem with loss of privacy is people don’t understand the threat, or don’t take it seriously. Several studies on users of FaceBook have been done, showing how poorly people manage their settings on FaceBook.
One of the conclusions drawn by the two researchers is that Facebook offers relatively poor personal data protection ““ both via the service itself, its design, the level of competence of its users and their lack of awareness of self-protection measures.
“What information is put on the net is completely up to the individual, but unfortunately, few people are aware of all the potential consequences,” says Marika Lüders. “For example, informants know very little about how Facebook exploits personal information for commercial purposes.”
In the course of the interviews, Facebook users admitted that they do not know much about how personal information can be utilised, but that they want to have control over such use. At the same time, they find it reassuring that so many other people are users, and that they have heard of few unfortunate cases. They post their personal information without finding out where it might end up, and they are often very surprised about what other people are capable of publishing on the site. -Sintef
FaceBook has now unleashed an application that uses facial recognition algorithms to tag people in pictures you upload. This technology is very accurate—this article at Edgelings states the only mistakes they found were in the cases of identifying the wrong person in a pair of identical twins.
And speaking of facial recognition software, a University in Europe has developed facial recognition software it says is as accurate as DNA tests (although I’m not certain that’s a compliment, given the problems we’re starting to see with DNA testing). Social networking sites are making inroads into collecting real time feelings, to evaluate and correlate events in people’s lives with their emotional state. The researchers involved in this study say the ability to record your emotional state in real time makes people feel more connected, and happier. Our social network has become our god.
Of course, all the information you put up on social networking sites isn’t safe from snooping of a more official kind, either.Just visiting a news site could get you placed under investigation now-a-days.
The Department of Justice recently demanded that an Internet news site hand over the IP addresses of everyone who visited. They then demanded that the news outlet keep quiet about it. The news story from CBS says that it raised “troubling” issues about privacy rights and journalism. Actually, the incident should raise alarm bells over the increasing disregard of this Administration for the Bill of Rights. A population that is largely ignorant of the Constitution and their rights is paving the way for government tyranny. -CrossTalk
And what is the Government doing with all this information they collect on people? Why, building their terror suspects list, of course. It turns out that over 1600 people a day are added to the “official” terror suspect list, according to the Washington Post.
In England, we see the next stage of the nanny state in full swing.
Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.
New guidance drawn up at the request of the Department of Health urges councils and other public sector bodies to “collect data” on properties where children are thought to be at “greatest risk of unintentional injury”. -Times
Protecting children from their parents through state intervention. Not that we don’t see this sort of thing on this side of the Pond, but at what point do we realize that government employees are people, just like parents? Or do we so believe in this nonsense about the su, being greater than its parts that we really think it’s better to have a village raise a child?
Related posts:
Recent Comments