"Personalization and Privacy"

Who should be held accountable for the breach of privacy over the internet? 

The amount of information that we willingly provide to the online world is astounding.  As technology continues to evolve, we have become more and more careless about how much information we voluntarily post to the Internet. 

No, I am not referring to  the continuous stream of Facebook status updates, tweets, or Instagram pictures that inform the online community of your favorite movie #romcoms,  your most recent escape to a foreign country (cue the passport/boarding pass pictures), or even your new canine comrade “Helen added 52 new photos to the album: I GOT A DOG.”   Frighteningly enough, I am talking about the personal information that was released prior to those posts. 

Chances are a bit of research was done before any of those posts reached an audience.  Most likely, a search engine was used to look up any information that could be useful: “Top ten romantic comedies”, “What language do they speak in the Netherlands?”, “How much dog food does a golden retriever need?”  A few more clicks and you are one step away from owning “Dutch for Dummies”.  The only action left is a button that reads “create your account”, which seems harmless enough…

BAM!  You’ve just sent your personal information into the world of cyberspace.  Honestly though, what’s the harm?  Everyone’s doing it these days.  Every Web site requests our name, address, credit card information, social security number, and so on.  The disturbing part here isn’t so much what the requests entail, but rather the fact that we willingly provide the answers to these questions without even batting an eye.  We are essentially taking our identity, shoving it inside a fat and juicy piece of meat, and dangling it right in front of the wolf’s face. 

A few days later and Facebook knows all about your upcoming trip to Amsterdam.  Your Facebook friends have no idea that you’re going abroad, but the same can’t be said for your Facebook account.  Welcome to your front seat view of a “recommender system”. 

Often times we underestimate how much information we are actually handing over to the Internet.   We have an understanding that the Internet is “smart” and “advanced”.  Is this true, or have we just become lazy and stupid?  However helpful e-commerce may prove to be, why are we reluctant to stop the serious breach of privacy that it creates?  Once we log out of an account, we rarely think twice about who might have access to our personal information.  Are we so wrapped up in the ease of the Internet that we can no longer differentiate innocence from ignorance?  It is almost counterproductive for information systems to identify and inform users of privacy risks when no solution exists.  Who will protect us when we can’t even protect ourselves? 

Is there a balanced equation to this solution, or will it remain unstable in the future as well?  Only time will tell.