Wild Dingo.Net

Privacy. It’s such a simple thing. Seems like something that everyone ought to have without having to fight for it or heck even ask for it. But sadly, each day, this very right is slipping through our fingertips. As a web developer, I enjoy all the “neat” things you can do on the web. But I draw the line at compromising even a smidge of my privacy.

Today’s social networking tools are the worst offenders.  A few years ago, I reluctantly joined LinkedIn, as a client required me to do in order to complete a work assignment. I was very careful not to list anything too personal other than what was required: school and industry and my web site. That information seemed benign enough.  Over the years, I never use the service, as I prefer to network with people in person, yet each day I keep getting requests to join someone’s network on Linked In. Like that’s where the cool kids are.  And each time I get one of these invitations I reluctantly agree to join their network so not to offend anyone. 

Online social networking has become the antithesis of what true networking should be:  personal, face-to-face, interaction, where people spend “time” with each other without the aid of a keyboard and monitor.  It has become the lure to a new kind popularity contest, and in truth, very little quality time is spent with those socially travelling in cyberspace. How could anyone spend a reasonable amount of quality time with 458 people?  What does anyone really know about the people attached to the names in their network?  Do they know each person’s astrological sign or where they hang out? After all, those were the lines most used in the ‘60s and ‘70s to get to know someone at a party. What about their criminal record?

But getting to my point…

To keep competitive in the popularity contest, people sell out. They set up “free” accounts on Blogspot, TypePad, MySpace, Flicker, Google organizer and they start publishing. Overall, the concept seems harmless, but as well all know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Make no mistake that once you set up a “free account” anywhere, whether online or even offline; you’ve sold a piece of your identity. And the more information you use to define yourself, the more you sell.  And the more you sell, the more you are harassed on the phone, online, in your e-mail box or your postal mail box. And try as you may, once your privacy is violated, there’s no turning back.  Blogspot’s profile page is one of the worst offenders of privacy. As a web developer, I have several blogs that I develop for clients through Blogspot, but I’ve had to repeatedly monitor my profile page in order to keep my list of blogs private, so not to violate any of my clients’ privacy by associating one client blog with another, simply because I am one person who administers many blogs that have nothing to do with each other.  It’s amazing the lengths I have to go through in order to “turn off” information about me available to the public.  One of my clients is extremely sensitive to this keeping his, albeit public blog, specifically targeted, so it was crucial for me to keep my identity and my other client’s identity disassociated from him.

On my LinkedIn account, one of the names recommended to me in a social network, was the director of a conference I went to in Paris, over seven years ago. Never mind that I never met the man, nor did I ever do work for him or anyone in his company. I simply attended a conference (with thousands of attendees) that he organized. There is no reason I should be remotely connected to him socially. To me, this is the worst kind of violation. I actually paid for that conference, but I did not pay for him to list my name on his LinkedIn account. As a past direct marketing professional, I might have seen this as harmless, and might have had the opinion that the names on the conference list belongs to the conference owner to use for future direct marketing, but honestly, I never anticipated direct marketing uses going so far as to use names to connect with an online social networking tool, as if I somehow actually personally knew this person. For all I know, he could be a criminal. A few pieces of postal or e-mail junk mail here and there was all I ever imagined would come out of my name being listed on a conference list. It becomes more and more offensive to me each day. Attending a conference and meeting someone face to face are completely separate things. Why not link me to Lance Armstrong since I ride a bike or Ben Stiller since I saw one of his movies?

Privacy was one of the reasons why it took me so long to get a blog started on Wild Dingo. And yes, I share plenty of personal information online. But the difference is that I control it (at least to the best of my ability). I programmed the blog tools on my own server and should I for any reason ever want to delete my material, I can be confident my material is deleted and not held for future marketing purposes. I don’t delude myself into thinking it is forever deleted. There are plenty of web archiving companies that exist today for the sole purpose of direct marketing dollars, even though they claim to be “historical documenters.” Still, this is as close to maintaining control of my information while maintaining a web presence as possible.

This blog isn’t big enough to detail the thousands of ways free (and some paid) Web tools violate your privacy every day. So when it comes to using social networking tools, free or paid, take a conservative approach. Balance your objectives for publishing with your absolute right to privacy. Find out about how free services are using your information and if you can’t find a service that lets you maintain absolute control, seek out a developer to help you. After all, your content and your information belong to you.

Recommended Reading

The Right to Privacy by Ellen Alderman & Caroline Kennedy
I read this book in the early ’90’s (oy, I’m old!) and it ignited my passion for the subject. It’s a good read.

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