But tell me, where does it end? At what point do we say that people should learn the basics about the things they use every day, and that might harm them?
Agreed; but none of these sites tell you, in a clear, concise and understandable way what information is available and at what level. Facebook is fairly good - but you still have to go digging.
Good point, but people don't even seem to be thinking enough to look for such a document. They should be intuitively aware of the risks and possibilities associated with companies holding this kind of information.
I didn't need to read Facebook's privacy agreements to know that there was no way in hell I was going to hand them my entire social graph on a platter just in exchange for a free blog and image hosting. Just the certain knowledge that law enforcement will have easy, reliable access to a list of all my friends, with contact information no less, is a total showstopper. Maybe I'm paranoid but I don't understand why more people aren't considering these things.
> Maybe I'm paranoid but I don't understand why more people aren't considering these things.
By today's standard, you are paranoid. By reasonable standards however, you are just informed. The internet is mainstream for 10, maybe 15 years. This is not enough for normal people to learn about it. This is not enough for parents to teach kids.
People are learning, however. See my aunt, while refusing to even use a computer, likes to "spy" on some of her acquaintances by asking her daughter to check the relevant Facebook profile.
I am confident that people will learn. They will make the distinction between private and public. They will see how massive centralization of data (Facebook, Gmail) could be used. I think, however that this will be long. Maybe another 10 or 15 years.
Agreed; but none of these sites tell you, in a clear, concise and understandable way what information is available and at what level. Facebook is fairly good - but you still have to go digging.