A study a few years ago by computer scientists at Stanford University shows just how often personal data can be harvested on sites that you visit. An article from the New York Times about the study notes that “[y]our online travel — your clickstream, as it’s poetically known — is not always anonymous. It can often be traced right back to rather precise parts of you, including your name and e-mail address.”
The article discusses other studies showing similar issues relating to the way that your trail of personal data can be gathered and repurposed in all sorts of ways without your ever being aware of it.
How worried should we be?
Sources
Sengupta, Somini. “Stanford Researcher Finds Lots of Leaky Web Sites.” New York Times. New York Times, 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.
Every time we interact with the internet, whether by email, instant messaging, filling out online forms for an insurance quote, we assume the notion that “nothing is every safe on the web.” Once something is out there in the “cyber world” it will always be out there. Even traces of it can still be on the web cached or archived. Its like a door that has been left opened; it is only a matter of time until someone breaks in and takes something and in this case its your “data.” At the end of the article it mentioned a computer scientist able to look up pictures of faces with facial recognition software…Now the real problem is what if one day this becomes a mobile app? You can already begin to imagine on all levels what could go wrong in these types of situations (ex: stalkers).
I used the Baruch library website to find this article that goes into detail about this. It’s an interesting read and gives us a better understanding of how transparent technology has made us.
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?sid=542ff471-eac9-4b66-abd2-c9707a9d363f%40sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=tfh&AN=2031022
I feel that privacy will inevitably disappear. We already openly throw our every thought out into the world through sites such as Twitter and Facebook without a second thought. We’re moving towards a world where our very minds will be hooked up to a computer and connected to the internet. Our every thought will be able to be seen and read once they figure out how to decode our neurological synapse’s into physical code. I hope I don’t live long enough to see the day where privacy is no longer seen as an inherent right.
Anthony: Just a quick reply here to note that (a) I’m super impressed you went off and found that article and (b) your link to it doesn’t work. Here’s a link to that article that will work.
Vanny: your fears about facial recognition software are ones that Google shares, to an exent. I’ve read that Google could be rolling out software like that on the cameras in Android phones but has held back out of fear of unintended consequences that such technology might have. At the moment, it is part of the Android OS but only to let you unlock your phone. I wonder if it will be built into Google Glass, though, to let you easily run Google searches on people you see; now that would be scary.
Just noticed this article on the website of the Society for Human Resources Management (a professional organization representing the interests of people who work in human resources) that outlines many of the privacy issues with facial recognition software.