Forget Facebook and MySpace – Wall Street Journal Shares Your Information Too

Whenever I give anyone my information or know anyone has my information, I accept that it is no longer private. That information can just be the fact that I walked by a camera, or said something near a microphone that was recording, or perhaps used a credit card. I can request that things be private, but I cannot expect privacy.

Government cannot effectively enforce privacy, nor can consumer pressure on business.

As collection and sharing of information is made easier, privacy deteriorates. Eventually there will be almost no privacy because it will be considered first antisocial and then morally repugnant.

If you don't believe me, think of the amount of privacy we had 20 years ago compared to today, and what we would have thought of webcams pointed at (name some location here) 15-20 years ago. Today many of us check out traffic cams. But, I remember when people were throwing a fuss about security cameras on street corners. Years ago, there were Twilight Zone episodes about big brother cameras, etc. Now, we watch Big Brother on T.V.

WSJ is the least of my worries. What about a system that truly understands my psychology and can manipulate me personally? It is inevitable that such a system will one day exist, with greater collection, aggregation, and analysis of data day by day.