One of the most pressing issues in this week’s Google articles concerns user privacy and the company. Google tracks and stores information such as number of clicks on a website, web searches, IP address, photos of one’s home, and more all in the name of a faster, better web browser. Most of the articles portrayed this “lack of privacy” in a negative light. A criticism mostly used was that it has become the public’s job to control their reputation. That is, if a user does not like a search option that someone invades their right to self, it is their responsibility to address it–not a company’s place to default options in favor of the user. What is often ignored, however, is the question: what kind of space is the Internet? Due to it’s newness, this question has a variety of answers which then dictates a variety of etiquette or social clues that can be used to navigate such a place.
For example, most people know if they walk naked in a park that others will see. This is because we understand the park to be a public place. When indoors, one can safely get undressed because this is our private domain. The Internet, however, has not been defined as either. Their is no consensus as to how private or public is the World Wide Web. Some might argue different parts are more private than others (i.e. searches should be more private than blogs). However, these definitions are based on a loose conception of what feels like privacy. We know a park is public because it is owned by the public. Our houses are private because we own them. If the Internet is public, however, does that not mean its content (in all forms) should also be public? We don’t own Google, so are we automatically giving up our right to privacy when we type in a search or fill in our names?
Furthermore, if these details about our lives make Google smarter and faster, is giving up our privacy worth bettering a product millions use everyday? How much should we give in order to benefit a company who, despite their slogan “Don’t Be Evil”, is ultimately like any other company with the intent to gain profit?
Personally, I think future generations will have to do two accept two things: our world is no longer a place of privacy. Google tracks your searches, uses those searches to makes assumptions about you, and takes pictures of your homes for the use of maps. But to combat this, we will need to better educate people on how the information they send out can and will be interpreted. In this way, if people understand how certain searches affiliate them with a certain political party, they can choose which searches they still want to type and learn to accept the consequences with them. In this world of privacy vs. ease, one will have to win. Since the Internet and Google are here to stay and their development requires our information to improve, privacy will ultimately lose.
