Starting today, March 1st, G-mail is starting to reinforce their new privacy policy. By linking a user’s G-mail, Youtube, and Google Plus accounts, information will be shared across all the services. In doing so, Google plans to track user online behaviour down to their every click. Though, users have been reassured their private searching information will be used only for advertising.
The question of online privacy gets raised with this new policy. Some people feel uncomfortable having their online actions monitored / tracked. Others fear the possible heightened risk of hackers by making their information even more accessible.
The question then becomes, “Are the privileges worth more than our principles?” Services such as electronic mail, video on demand, and social networking have become widely known and used among the average individual. Can we ignore the invasion of our privacy to continue our use over these services?
In the end, it becomes an issue of whether we desire the services more than the protection of our privacy. Since these services have become so integrated into our society, users are hesitant to abandon them, though they may not support every aspect of them. This causes users to accept new policies and voluntarily, though disapprovingly, relinquish their privacy rights.
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“You already have zero privacy – get over it.” – Scott McNealy
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Yes, I do think privileges are more important than principles in society, well at least in this case. Most people don't find much issue with sharing their information on the internet, and that's exactly why companies like Google will keep taking advantage of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Well put.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find it a shame how these companies take advantage of their customers just because they provide a desired product / service.