Comment by captainmuon | Hacker News Reader

Comment by captainmuon | Hacker News Reader

This sounds like a self-fulfulling prophecy. Tell people that having data of them out there will change their behavior, and then they'll become aware of that idea, and will change their behavior. If they don't know about the concept, they might not.

You could even say that this page, and people trying to raise awareness for this issue, are harmful!

Imagine a few important people stepping up and saying, no, we will not disadvantage applicants because of their "unprofessional" facebook profiles. In fact, we value authentic, unintimidated people. The act of saying so will make it a little bit so!

We need to shift the blame from people expressing themselves, to those people punishing them for it, or even to people giving well-meaning advice like this.

(Just a crazy thought I just had. Didn't want to be to harsh with the creator, who raises an important discussion.)

Ignorance is not a way out.

In 2015 the databroker market was already worth 150 billion dollars in the US alone. (source: FCC report on databrokers)

>>> people trying to raise awareness for this issue, are harmful

Harmful for who? If, let's say, they make people actually aware of this, that might lead to change towards privacy. But if people are unaware, and they remain unaware, the probability of change is smaller.

That's what I'm wondering - maybe "privacy" is the chilled state. Maybe what we should be aiming for is not "privacy", but rather being at ease with modern communication.

The following is a kind of evil comparison, and I'm sorry, but I can't come up with a better one right now - it's a bit like saying: "If 'chubby' people were aware that they should wear flattering clothes, then this might lead to other people liking them better." - Maybe well-indended advice, but WTF no! You shouldn't tell somebody to hide their body, and likewise you shouldn't tell somebody to hide their emotions, political ideas, drinking pictures, social moments, and so on.

People will figure it out one way or another. In fact the site explicitly mentions people are already changing their habits. It doesn't take a coordinated campaign for people to realize something's up, just rumor and the occasional anecdote.

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