Think HMOs, loan applications, romantic partners. Let’s say you’ve been hitting up a burger joint twice a week, and you happen to joke, in a post on Twitter, how all the meat must be wreaking havoc on your cholesterol. Suddenly your health-insurance premiums go up. Now imagine your job is listed on Salary.com; your vacation preferences linked to Orbitz. Think how this could affect your social standing, or your ability to negotiate a raise or apply for a loan.We talk in class about the FBI tracking seemingly innocent people without warrants. To me this trend seems to be a similar breach of privacy. What Internet sites you visit should be protected by law the First Amendment as a form of free speech. Insurance providers and employers should not be allowed to discriminate based on this information. More than anything this article definitely makes me think twice about where I go on the Internet.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
'The credit score of the future'
Anybody who's ever spent any significant time on the web has asked the question: exactly how much does the Internet know about me? Most everyone has experienced those annoying targeted ads in the sidebar. But after reading an article in Newsweek on the topic, I was surprised to find out the extent to which personal information is being collected. The article imagines a future where anyone can access a wealth of your personal information from the web :
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This is terrifying! The article begs the question: Do big businesses follow the same rules as the government? No. Businesses are meant to make money, and they will do so if they can tailor to their audience. Unfortunately for the consumer, he/her can be targeted individually to an invasive point. Where is the line between research and breaching of privacy? With technology changing faster than legislation, we may be subject to questionable activity via the internet for years to come. Thanks, Max, for this great article and post!
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