Notes from the Epicenter: Paranoid about Internet Privacy
Movies are just movies — everyone knows that. They’re not real, they’re fiction. Even movies based on true stories are fictionalized (does anyone really think the upcoming Bruckheimer/Bay Pearl Harbor is going to tell it like it was?). Even so, movies are generally pretty good at evoking certain feelings in us, even though we know that’s just what they’re trying to do. For instance, I was feeling a tad bit paranoid about ancient Egyptian curses last night, after having seen The Mummy Returns (though not as paranoid as I was after seeing the original).
Now take all those espionage and government plot movies where people can spy on every move and every whisper someone else makes. Like the one where Gene Hackman has to blow up his secret hideout because Will Smith made a call from his living room. Or the one where satellites can trace everything that Harrison Ford does. Or the one where a killer stalks the agoraphobic Sigourney Weaver through her computer. Or the one where some nefarious types sabotage Sandra Bullock’s identity using the Internet. People are likely to come home from seeing one of these movies with a slight aura of paranoia about them. Which, in my estimation, may account for part of the privacy mania that seems to be taking hold of the consumer mind these days.
Articles about privacy, particularly online privacy, are seemingly everywhere. I recently picked up an issue of Architectural Digest (of all things) at the doctor’s office, and flipped through it looking for pictures of fancy homes. Instead I found a column about online privacy. Hmmm.
A Question of Trust
Businesses have always been paranoid of privacy (company secrets and all), so it’s not too shocking that they would pay good money to be reassured that they are indeed keeping proprietary information proprietary. But privacy paranoia has spread to regular people, too.
I certainly have it. I never enter credit card information on a Web site unless I’m positive I’m buying something. And even then I have this vague feeling that I’m doing something reckless. And I’m apparently not alone. According to a 1999 survey by the Federal Trade Commission only a quarter of the 80 million American adults who use the Internet purchase things online. Sorry Webvan.
Congress has been trying to get Web sites to come up with their own comprehensive privacy policy with reasonable success. Industry groups like the Online Privacy Alliance and the Electronic Privacy Information Center have put together guidelines for Web privacy policies. And companies are moving to adopt them.
A 1998 survey by the FTC found that 85 percent of Web sites collect consumer information, but only 14 percent notify consumers that they are doing so. A survey completed the following year by Georgetown University found that 93 percent of sites (from a sampling of the Internet’s 7,500 busiest servers) collect personal information, and 66 percent post disclosures about these practices. Progress.
There are also seal programs like those run by TRUSTe and BBBOnline that will give you a seal of approval if you meet their privacy guidelines. TRUSTe runs a number of watchdog programs and investigates sites from time to time when it suspect inappropriate privacy practices.
But is this really the way to go? Clearly consumers know sites are collecting data from them and it seems this fact in itself is enough to keep them away. Maybe sites should just collect less data, rather than try to convince consumers that they will keep it to themselves. If the relatively small percentage of Internet users who also shop online is any indication, consumers are concerned about giving data online period, even if they believe it won’t be leaked to third parties.
Inconspicuousness Theory
On the other hand, maybe we consumers should just stop worrying so much. We’re pretty much used to not having as much privacy as our parents did anyway (especially if we live in cities, where it’s hard ever to be alone). And it’s not like our privacy wasn’t in question before the Internet: We’ve probably all divulged a lot more information about ourselves during phone calls (and maybe even postcards) than we have on the Internet, and plenty of institutions have long been interested in trading information about our spending habits, health, and driving records. And in a world of billions, isn’t it easy enough to hide? I mean, it’s not like all of us are objects of government conspiracies, like Mel Gibson was once, in the movies.
This article was last modified on January 8, 2023
This article was first published on May 14, 2001
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I’m much more concerned about real world privacy…think about how many businesses, doctor’s offices, banks, etc. ask you for your social security number. Usually they just say “it’s just for identification.” It’s so easy to screw up someone’s life with this information if the wrong person gets ahold of it. If you’ve ever seen reports on how easy it is to steal a person’s identity using their social security number, you know what I mean. This causes so much more chaos than a web site asking me for my e-mail address and my name ( I use initials for my first name anyway). So web sites collecting this type of information doesn’t concern me as much.
Is it because of her glasses? I don’t know, but she is seeing things very clear. I refuse constantly to write down my name and e-mail adres for what promise they give me (Sorry for my ‘English’,but I’m trying). Even for this reaction I have to give my identity. Probably it’s part of our ‘Internet-live’?
Anyway, thanks Andrea for your clear comments.
Herman Kaptein, Netherlands