If you have an Internet site, you must let the search engines, e.g. Google, know that you’re there. There is a detailed registration process involved. However, anyone with a little smarts also signs up for Google AdSense, which permits Google to place ads on your site. The few pennies involved aren’t worthy of discussion, but the enhanced visibility certainly is.
Now, website owners are being alerted by Google to the upcoming (April 8, 2009) launch of interest-based advertising, which “will allow advertisers to show ads based on a user’s previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. “sports enthusiast”).”
To alert our visitors, we have changed the heading of these ad sections to “ads: no privacy”. But does anyone here in the United States care?
In Sweden, where there is a finely-tuned sense of privacy, they certainly would. In America, however, no one seems to care.
- On social networking sites, e.g. Facebook and MySpace, people publish all sorts of information and photos of a very personal nature. (Note: In contrast, wikiSenior supports total anonymity in order to protect privacy.)
- We continue to hear of organizations that have “lost” our credit card information.
- So many vendors ask for the last four digits of your social security number that you suspect that you’ll be asked the next time you’re going to the movies.
The results of this loss, e.g. ID theft and stalking, have not yet caused enough outrage to elicit firm controls from the government sector. Essentially, you are on your own. Proactively, what can a person do?
- Politely decline any invitation to become a “friend”, “associate”, of “member” of a social networking site.
- Limit the disclosure of social security numbers to employers and financial institutions that must report to the IRS. If you insist, even phone companies will accept other forms of ID.
- Never supply personal information to any email request - EVER. Any reputable organization will have a more formal process.
- In the Internet Options tab of your browser, limit your “cookies” to “current session” so that your clicks from two weeks ago aren’t following you.
- In general, watch where you click. It sounds terrible to say, but Big Brother IS watching you.
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