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Discussion on: What's the big deal with privacy?

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whoisryosuke profile image
Ryosuke

It's all about the responsibility of data.

I don't care as much about websites using things like profile data or even browsing history to cater advertising. But I get upset when a company allows any amount of my credit card data to be leaked, because it becomes that much easier to impersonate me when you have the last four digits of a primary card, or my last name, or my address or phone number.

I understand the concern on the breach of things, particularly when most of the time the user isn't even aware they're being scraped of valuable data. I'd prefer transparency in data aggregation and collaboration with 3rd parties, since Tinder sharing my HIV status with other companies might not be cool in my book.

It's the same reason the government can't mail you medical information on the outside of an envelope. If anyone knows I'm a medical marijuana patient, my well-being is way more compromised than the average person because of prejudices in society.

Being able to draw a line as a user and secure your information is always important, since developers can't anticipate every edge case on privacy. It helps when regulatory bodies come in and draw lines like the FTC managing online credit card privacy.

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mortoray profile image
edA‑qa mort‑ora‑y

Your name, address, phone number, and a lot more personal information is within reach on public data sources without anybody needing to leak anything. We leak far more information over time than we tend to imagine. Everything we do reveals a bit of information.

A record of all your activities allows me to impersonate you. I don't need your credit card number. A charismatic person could probably convince your boss he's your best friend from Facebook history alone. Following you on Meetup would let one infiltrate your actual close friends. It'll start being possible to guess your passwords, if not chosen carefully, or convince a landlord to get into your home, install key loggers, etc.

Any history can be used against you if somebody is determined.

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mtbsickrider profile image
Enrique Jose Padilla

So the main points I understand regards to identity theft, and I 100% agree. There is no doubt that anything that gives people an advantage of doing this needs to be penalized and needs regulations.

The other points seem to me about reputation. But if all of those secrets were shared, do you think society would start being less judgemental? I feel like judging other is just because their secrets haven't been shared.

That being said, I could see how some lines could be drawn on consensus. Medical information seems like a good candidate, etc.I guess it would come down to being more transparent as a whole.

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ardennl profile image
Arden de Raaij

You never know what information might be used against you in the future. There are many countries right now where information you knowingly or unknowingly shared can get you in huge trouble, whether it's a statement you made like criticizing the government or making a joke about a head of state. Or personal information that could lead down to your religion or sexual orientation. In some of these countries, this was unthinkable a decade ago. Worse things have happened in history with personal details the people happily shared.