

Ask HN: How do you see privacy on Internet ? - skbohra123

Can internet privacy be ever achieved? It looks to me as only a small subset of people actually care about their data online. In future people are going to be more concerned about privacy or they would never ? I would like to know views of fellow HNers about privacy.
======
devmonk
Privacy is almost non-existant. When you can be video/audiorecorded anywhere
and that information posted up on Youtube without question to share with the
world, how is there privacy? When all of your bank's data, your government
records, and eventually your health records can be accessed by more and more
people, where is the privacy? If your friends and family post pictures of you
up on Facebook and tell of your latest deeds without your permission, when
they would certainly not call all of your friends and family on the phone to
tell them those things, where is the privacy?

The question I think that is more relevant is how we should try to protect
ourselves and what we should try to protect in the coming years.

It would be one thing if all data were raw and public, but people can take all
of that data and alter it or put a spin on it to fabricate a reality much more
convincing and much more easily year-by-year as we share more data and
technology advances.

So the answer can't be that their should be no attempt at privacy, but at the
same time, we all have to embrace the fact that we basically have no true
protection anymore. We are wide open and the only way to keep from getting
hurt is to live outside of that world, something I'm not sure is possible
anymore.

~~~
skbohra123
The one big question that comes to mind is, privacy issues are worse with
bigger companies. I am more worried about Google or Facebook using my data
then any smaller company and at the same time they provide such great services
'free' that I just can't help using them.

------
aberkowitz
Privacy does not exist on the internet -

Usernames, IP addresses, email, and WHOIS information link multiple accounts
on the internet up to one identity.

Mentions of people, places, activities, interests help create an accurate
profile of a user that can match them up with other online accounts.

Even those who forgo non anonymous online personalities can be found through a
subpoena of an access log.

Edit: To add - OP's Name, Picture, Email, Address, Domain Names, Telephone
Number, etc can be found through this methodology.

------
aspir
Privacy began to quickly wilt away with the widespread use of credit cards and
cell phones. Both of these allow for us to be tracked via spending and calls
(now with apps and gps in phones).

But, we've always had phone books, directory assistance, and the US census.
72% of the national population in both 2000 and 2010 filled out the first
form, not including the second form, and not including the door to door.

In many ways, the privacy issues that companies like Google and Facebook are
dealing with were instigated decades, or even centuries earlier. Each step has
met resistance, always has become the norm in a few years. I expect this
recent privacy wave will be similar. We could've opted out intrusive things
many, many years ago but, as a society, we have not done so.

------
iuguy
It depends on how you define internet privacy.

If you mean individual awareness and a person's concern for the security of
their data on the Internet, I think that we're in a better place than 10 years
ago, but there's still a long way to go.

I think the actual privacy and protection of data runs contrary to the way
Internet collaboration is heading, at the individual, group, company and
governmental level. The Internet is such a good tool for information exchange,
it seems weird to restrict the exchange of that information. But restrict we
must, for when we fail to effectively do so, bad shit happens(tm).

But don't worry, PCI DSS will solve everything. A vendor told me so it must be
true ;)

