

The privacy paradox: The privacy benefits of privacy threats [pdf] - csandreasen
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/05/21-privacy-paradox-wittes-liu/wittes-and-liu_privacy-paradox_v10.pdf

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csandreasen
I'll provide a quick TL;DR as the paper is somewhat lengthy but I think the
message is worth discussing:

Much of what privacy advocates focus on in terms of privacy violations on the
internet neglect to take into account privacy gains from those same
technologies. A key factor to this is focusing on what information is being
shared but neglecting to account who it is being shared with and the privacy
benefits associated with interacting with that service instead of traditional
alternatives. For example, Google can see every search a person conducts
regarding their sexual preferences. However, a closeted homosexual might turn
to Google to find social and support groups because they're afraid of
judgement from their family and peers. Groups like the EFF would say that
buying a book through a Kindle is awful for the privacy of the reader because
Amazon tracks the fact that you specifically bought the book and can see when
you're reading it and even what page you're on - but most readers don't care
that Amazon knows they're reading 50 Shades of Grey; they'd rather that
everyone else on the subway just sees them reading their Kindle instead of an
erotic novel paperback.

In general, people are more afraid of having their sensitive personal details
disclosed to the people they interact with in person - their families,
friends, coworkers or even the checkout lady at the pharmacy. The loss of
privacy to a remote party like Google is worth the net gain in privacy to
avoid disclosing embarrassing information to people they are more concerned
with. This is also dependent on the type information being disclosed - the set
of information that you'd want to keep from your friends is not the same set
that you'd want to keep from your spouse, which is not the same as what you'd
keep from your coworkers, which is not the same as what you'd hide from the
police.

For those that would prefer an audio version, Ben Wittes gives a good
discussion of it on the Lawfare Podcast at
[http://traffic.libsyn.com/lawfare/Episode_129.mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/lawfare/Episode_129.mp3)

~~~
pdkl95
> but most readers don't care

Most readers don't _know_ the extend Amazon is tracking what they read, and
often believe the relationship ended after the exchange of money and ebook.
The tech industry's presumption that people don't care or are ok with stuff
like Amazon knowing what page you're on is a projection of what they want
popular opinion to be. In fact, a common reaction to learning how these
surveillance-as-a-business-model ;goods and services actually work is that
people tend to care very strongly about this kind of violation of their
privacy, but feel powerless and trapped with non alternative. Very few people
I have met see trading privacy for something as a _good_ thing. Instead, what
I often hear are regular complaints about companies asking for more and more
information.

I do agree there the distance of personal association affect this, where it is
often easier to allow a distant 3rd party to know important private
information, probably due to not having to interact with the them afterwords.
(i.e. someone may not care if some random stranger they are unlikely to
interact with in the future knows their sexual orientation, but friends or
family you are going to interact with regularly finding out could have
consequences.

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lovemenot
>> But nearly every male, and more than a few women, who went through puberty
in the pre-Internet age will smile in memory of some variation of Allen’s
humiliation. If you didn’t go to the magazine store yourself to purchase girly
magazines, you asked an older brother, cousin, or friend.

I am of the right gender and generation, but not a consumer. I am fed up with
the trope that _pretty much everyone_ uses or has used pornography. Not trying
to demonstrate something worthy about myself (good luck to porn users).
Rather, I dislike being defaulted into groups where I don't actually belong.
And suspect that I am in less of a minority than some would have us believe.
Perhaps non-consumers of porn really are such a big outlier, I've never
checked the stats. However, I am aware that people who use this trope may
incorrectly and infuriatingly discount such protestations with a wink and a
nudge.

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jensen123
I'm concerned what could happen in the future, if large corporations have
stored a lot of data. I was surprised how much civil liberties got eroded in
the US after 9/11\. What if there are more big terrorist attacks, for example,
and say the military takes over the government? Do you really want some
central database of all the books you've ever read then?

