Is privacy more important to you than it used to be? Or less

[Joe Iliff]

An interesting article about the successor to the digital divide, which is the social media divide.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2011/03/the...d-privacy.html

Ordinarily, when asked a more/about the same/less question, most survey takers opt for the middle choice, said Larry Ponemon of The Ponemon Institute. In this case, 36 percent said they cared less about privacy than five years ago, and the same percentage said they care more. Only one in four picked “about the same.”

Privacy has been a vexing topic for researchers because consumers for years have said it's important to them, but rarely act out of that concern. They won't often shun supermarket discount loyalty cards, for example. Any survey result in which consumers admit caring less about privacy is intriguing, Ponemon said.

" . . .protecting privacy in a world where people don't see the value of it is going to become costlier and costlier. That means some people's right to privacy is being rendered more difficult to protect precisely by the right of other people not to care about privacy"

There should be a poll question, if I posted it properly.

Have you paid a cost for your non-participation in some social medium? Or for participating in one?

[Maister]

I have always been concerned about privacy, but I am more concerned about privacy these days, because both the means and willingness to scrutinize one's life have increased over the years.

[illinoisplanner]

The other thing to consider is that privacy can be applied to so many different facets of life.

Like for example, I think I'm more concerned about privacy in the social media realm than I used to be. On nearly all the social media websites I use, only my friends (people I've allowed) can have access to view my profile and personal information. That wasn't always the case, since back when I first started college, and many of those websites were new (Facebook, Myspace, etc.), I didn't have as strict privacy settings, and pretty much anyone could view my profile.

There are other things too, such as privacy in the consumer world, as has been mentioned. Privacy on the computer (Are your passwords all very hard to crack? Do you hate when people are hanging around you when you're on the computer seeing what you're doing?) Privacy in the home. (Do you close the door in your room when you go to bed? Lock the door when going to the bathroom? Do you need to have some down-time alone?) Privacy regarding your body. (Do you have problems going to nude beaches? Do you care if the TSA can see your body? Do you go shirtless in your yard?) Privacy as it pertains to identity theft (do you shred everything you possibly can that has your name and address on it? Or just your SSN? Bank account numbers? Receipts with partial credit card numbers listed?).

I think everyone has varying levels of concern regarding privacy in all the varying aspects of one's life, and this can change over time.

[Whose Yur Planner]

I am concerned about privacy, but there is little we can do about it now. There is no such things as secrets or privacy anymore. If people, the government or corporation want to find out about you, they will.

[Hink]

I don't really care about the social side of it, but I do like to be off the grid, so in some sense I really hate social media and the information it gathers.

I would imagine I would hate it more if I were doing some illicit dealings, but I worry more about ID theft than I do about losing my "off the grid" status.

[TerraSapient]

I think the way people are monitored is more of a concern than actual violations of my privacy. Does that make sense? It is not the act of wanting to protect my privacy that is a concern to me, it is that I feel like it needs to be protected because so much of what we do is/can be monitored by someone.

When did we become a society obsessed with voyeurism and censorship?

Identity theft is a concern, for sure, but what really irks me that my mail, messages, phone conversations, shopping habits, social media habits, reading habits, etc etc etc could, and probably have been, observed by someone who is interested in interfering in my life in some fashion - either to market crap to me or to make sure I'm behaving. It is kind of crazy.

[cng]

Privacy is important to me as far as my financial matters, personal and medical records are concerned. I dislike the idea of having my shopping behavior or credit being monitored by someone other than me. In social media, I participate to a degree that is generally accepted (commenting on friends' status updates, uploading pictures of various activities with friends and family on facebook, etc.), and see no problem doing so. My actions are guided by the principle that I don't do or say anything that could be used against me later in the future. But that applies in any situation, with or without technology.