When we look into the blue plastic cases of our devices, we probably don’t take out too much of its secrets, but when those same devices are plugged into the internet, where will they be?
Ever since Apple CEO Tim Cook received the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-taxing stance on offshore companies, the tech industry is seeing its privacy concerns move into the foreground. While Apple’s new Safari browser comes with new privacy settings that prevent it from sharing user data, and they haven’t always been warmly welcomed, some companies have also released their own privacy policies, and social networking platforms are getting in on the act with the aptly-named #DataLove and #DataKind movements.
David Balto, a former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission, said the issues of privacy and surveillance are too big to ignore. We might not know much about our devices and the way they perform in the private sector, but society will eventually realize that these are major issues that must be addressed.
“Privacy is hard to explain, but we are going to hear more about it. It’s the number one issue in consumer policy and privacy right now,” Balto said.
But, privacy is not just about safeguarding personal information, it’s also about protecting yourself, he said. Before we use our devices, some of us are creating an online persona. The more we share about ourselves, the less we are able to protect ourselves in the real world. And data can be dangerous in unpredictable ways, according to Balto.
“Let’s say you’re a young woman dating a tall, good-looking man who seems to be perfect. Look closely at his online profile and see what you might think,” Balto said. “His account makes it seem like he is wealthy and well off, and you would think there’s no way he would be interested in you. But you’d be wrong. He might like you because he knows how to use that profile information, and what you look like. We have to think carefully about how we discuss and recruit people before we choose them.”
But Balto acknowledged that asking consumers to give up any level of privacy or control over their data may be more of a “cynical fantasy” than anything else. Privacy issues are growing while public awareness is only gaining momentum.
Still, he said, we must take action to protect ourselves. If we are not careful, he warned, we could be paying a much steeper price when it comes to data-driven corporations: “There are less Internet 3.0 designs and little privacy for consumers.”