Privacy Please?

The internet can be a dangerous place. Information that we send out over the internet is processed through many different computers before it actually gets to where it is going. For instance, when I send an email it goes through 5 or so computers before it gets to where I was wanting to send it. Similarly, when you log into your bank account or other sites, that info is just jumping around, from computer to computer, waiting to be intercepted before it gets to its final destination. This is the nature of the beast, a web of computers all connected. It is great for communication, but not so great when you want something to be private.

In addition to your information getting stolen or intercepted, it is also getting stored. Every time you do something on the internet, computers are logging your every move. They are tracking your behavior. Jim living in CA went from website site X to website Y at 3:10pm by clicking this link. He then stayed there for 20 min and spent time looking at B. Then he went to Google and searched Z. And so forth. The people logging you are not some hackers out to steal your identity (though it could be) it is the corporations. Corporations want to know everything about you so they can market their products to you in such a way that it is impossible for you not buy them. Do you think that Google or Yahoo sits on their hands when they have the surfing habits of millions at their fingertips? Of course they don’t! They sit there, collect all this data, and then sell it to the highest bidder. They are making money off just watching you.

A good example is the YouTube Viacom lawsuit that is going on. Viacom wanted all the user information YouTube had so they could see how much traffic the copyrighted material was receiving. The judge granted the request and YouTube had to turn it all over to Viacom. This quote found here http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9983511-7.html is about the issue, “However, the judge granted a Viacom motion that records of every video watched by YouTube users, including their login names and IP addresses, be turned over to the entertainment giant.” It is scary that a judge can sit there and make YouTube do this with no consistent by any of its users. It is even scarier that YouTube has records of all this though! Why is YouTube tracking all this info! Just delete it or let a user decide if they want it kept! They keep it so they can make money.

Now, most of this information is kept private and a lot of information can’t be traced back to the person who actually did it. However, that is putting a lot of trust in a company. You might say, “I can trust Google.” But what is Google!? It’s just a company that is made up of many people and if you trust “Google”, then you are saying that you trust all the employees of Google. How do you know that some disgruntled IT person won’t steal all the info that Google has and then sell it to someone else? You don’t. Same goes for internal controls, security processes, and the list could go on and on. We, the people, just don’t know. I used Google in this example, but really, just fill in the blank. Going back to the YouTube Viacom thing, they said that IP addresses were given to Viacom too. That is personal info, your IP address can tell people exactly who you are and where you live. Just check out www.ipgp.net or www.ip-adress.com . Your ISP is another company that you must have a lot of trust in too. Everything you do on the net is going through them.

Do you see where this is going? Everything out there is up for grabs. How ethical do you think these companies are? How safe is what you are sending over the web?

This is a long post so I’m going to break it up, like a little series or something. Next Ill give you some tools and advice to help keep your info your info. Comments are welcome! If you have a story to tell about identity theft, the insecurity of the internet or just have some criticisms let’s hear it!