What really drives me crazy is how people are still surprised by this kind of thing. I stopped using Facebook four years ago, and I think it was one of the smartest decisions I've made. I value my privacy. There is so much complaining online about how Facebook is taking over everything, yet there is no action. If you have a problem with it, then don't use the service!
What really drives _me_ crazy is that the operating system on my phone doesn't give me control of what information and control I allow installed software to use (Android). I do use CyanogenMod which has something like control, but it is very displeasing that the stock options are either giving the developer every access right or not install the app.
I don't want to use either Android or iOS. I don't want to use Java or anything like it. The hardware I have is orders of magnitude more powerful than it needs to be to do the things I want it to do, and yet it does them poorly.
If I had a million dollars I'd make my own OS without all of the stupid waste, and I'm very surprised that nobody else has bothered to do so (well).
I think Facebook has done a good job helping people enjoy the habit of denying the importance of privacy in favor for a free service. I don't think many realize what they've sacrificed because they value it so little.
> I don't think many realize what they've sacrificed because they value it so little.
Exactly. Also, most people don't tend to question authority figures. That's what facebook has become for web 2.0 or whatever you want to call it, it's the thing that got most people to use internet actively as a part of their everyday lives.
It's not that. It's risks vs benefits and most people (I'm only speaking for the technically informed minority) weight the two and find out that at this point in time, the benefits are outweigh the risks.
Having a facebook account puts you in contact with your peers. Virtually everyone. It can be a huge social boost if used correctly (politeness, some language moderation, etc.), imagine how difficult would be for newcomers in town to socialize without using social media. Students that go away for Erasmus, etc. Facebook offers an incredibly valuable service.
What exactly will the NSA, Facebook or Google do with the user's data and how this entire privacy breach will actually play out in the future, no ones knows. Mind you that people actually like sharing their data with their peers and being part of a community such as this one.
Theoretically I can scrap all your posts run them through a "text analysis software" to extract data about your personality. So you're exposed anyway, the moment you put two words together online.
Most people don't realize the threat because everything is at virtual level yet. Only a few got bullied after online stalking. Once this group becomes a majority, things will change.
This problem you describe is the reason why Facebook is still printing cash. Somehow the majority of the population either just doesn't understand or doesn't care about the value of their privacy, or what their actions entail.
Perhaps this makes sense, (or at least here's a theory why).
Disclaimer:
I don't have time to do a massive research for this one (tl;didn't research), I will base the rest of my theory on these hypotheses which I can't prove are true, but I'm guessing are probably true (whatever true means). Don't take anything I say personally or seriously. I could be a sophisticated turing machine for all you know, and then you'd feel silly for getting all hyped up at a robot. So chill and enjoy the ride.
1. Despite what it may seem like, most people still don't really know how to use computers.
=and I don't mean like smartphones (which yes are computers but they make sht dead simple which almost puts them in a different category), I'm talking about setting up a good ol' desktop OS out of the box, getting it running on a network, configuring security, installing software, moving files, fixing permissions, etc.
2. OF THOSE who know how to use computers, many (if not most) of them do not know how to write code.
*=And not be a code hipsters, becuz damn am I sick of them, but I mean a lot of "devs" these days barely think about what it means to write executable code. JavaScript/V8 has opened the door to a lot of developers, though many still don't really understand how a computer program goes from looking like this:
3. OF THOSE who do know how to write code, only very few of them have gotten their heads out of their own asses and have built/done something to change the world :)
Okay, that last one was kind of a joke, but kind of not. But anyway, I digest...
So say you've just made this hit app ---in the past few years. Congrats! You've hit an interesting "sweet spot" in the general collective human consciousness in that you can sell software/"simplified" computers to people who largely have no clue what it is they are using! They call it "Facebook" or "Instagram" or "SnapChat" — not executable binaries running on a microprocessor in their pocket, live connected to several Fortune 500 companies that sell their data in real-time all across the Internet. Most likely if you explained a product in those terms to someone they'd think you're a weirdo (and maybe they'd be right, lol).
My theory is that to be open enough to consider these privacy claims, one would have to come to understand it on their own (otherwise, a part of their subconscious reaction to "foreign substance" will reject the information as "junk").
To even get to the point of understanding what this means, you'd have to get at least past Statement #2. To do something about it on a wide enough scale, you'd have to get past #3 and this is harder than it looks.
IMHO, it is because of #3 that ideas are meaningless — yeah we all get ideas in the shower but who gets off their ass, turns OFF the phone, turns OFF Facebook, and tune IN to whatever idea they'd like to manifest?
These people ended up creating Facebook. Instagram. SnapChat. Google. Apple.
And then they get to call the shots, and "explain privacy" to the masses until the majority agrees to think differently.
