Online Privacy

The reading was quite long and somewhat  informative. However, it did touch on some key issues that are currently plaguing us in today’s society. Which is privacy. Personally, i consider myself a very private person, i don’t like my “business” being out there. I trust very few people with sensitive information. However, the privacy described in the reading is online privacy. Mainly dealing with Facebook and Google. I don’t have Facebook, so i’m somewhat indifferent and i don’t mind the information Google keeps on me. I actually find it beneficial because the purpose of them gathering any information about me is for advertising purposes. If only my television were like this i won’t have to sit through another Always Maxipad commercial. Other privacy concerns are GPS tracking your every move with smartphone technology. So what? I ask. I’m not going anywhere that i would be ashamed of, if anything this makes it less likely that i’ll be accused of a crime. I’m sure the recent execution of Troy Davis won’t have happened if he had a smartphone that helped with his alibi. On the other side of the coin, i can understand how people would feel concerned about their privacy and who is gathering information about them. Although Google gives them the choice to opt out of the program, I prefer Facebook’s option to opt in to their Beacon program. In conclusion, i feel unless an individual really has something to hide, then all the fretting about online privacy should be nipped in the bud. If this whining continues we might have to start paying for  services like Gmail, google maps, youtube, just because someone doesn’t want people to know they eat Taco Bell at 4 am in the morning.