5 ms·

50 years ago people who smoked didn't care about the adverse effects mainly because they didn't know the dangers. As people who know the dangers of poor privac

50 years ago people who smoked didn't care about the adverse effects mainly because they didn't know the dangers. As people who know the dangers of poor privacy choices we should protect those who have not had the opportunity to consider it yet.

arvinsim 9y ago
And yet a lot of people smoke.
- skummetmaelk 9y ago
  In the US there has been a steady decline: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/ci... Almost three quarters of all smokers in the US want to quit: http://news.gallup.com/poll/163763/smokers-quit-tried-multiple-times.aspx http://news.gallup.com/poll/163763/smokers-quit-tried-multip... I think it is pretty clear that the information and social stigma campaigns run by people who care about the health of their fellow citizens have been effective.
  - ekianjo 9y ago
    in many other countries smoking is on the increase so it hasnt been as nearly effective as you think.
    - klez 9y ago
      Can you give some data please? What I found was current data, but not trends.
  - pferde 9y ago
    That doesn't mean much. I know several people who have wanted to quit smoking for 20+ years now.
    - isostatic 9y ago
      Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it 5 times!
    - skummetmaelk 9y ago
      This means that they are addicted. They still want to quit. They know it's bad, but are incapable of quitting because they value the short term fix over long term health. So why not try to help them do what they know is best for them instead of throwing our hands up in the air and saying "your problem buddy". Humans are notoriously bad at estimating future vs. current value. I think we should help people make good long term decisions instead of letting biology sabotage us.
martin_drapeau 9y ago
Smoking will kill you. Liking funny cat videos on Facebook won't. I think you are comparing oranges and apples here.
- skummetmaelk 9y ago
  Poor privacy choices can severely damage your future career and thereby quality of life. I'd say that is also pretty severe.
  - martin_drapeau 9y ago
    That is a good point. If any type of legislation should come out of this, it should be about usage of social media data by companies. They should not be able to discriminate people because of things they do in their private lives. In fact, they shouldn't have the right to investigate it unless it relates to the job (i.e. checking that a community manager does in fact use Twitter and Facebook in an efficient way). There may be exceptions but for 90% of the jobs out there - it makes no sense.
    - skummetmaelk 9y ago
      It's just very hard to make laws against that. There are laws forbidding discrimination based on gender and race, yet we still know that this is commonplace. I personally think it is better to tackle the issue by making it harder/impossible for companies to obtain this data and allowing users to force companies to delete ANY data they have on them by request.
      - martin_drapeau 9y ago
        It is hard but needs to exist. Discrmination will always exist and its no reason to give up and not have a law. The law is important. Information should be freely available. Making it impossible to obtain would lead towards information control like China and Russia. Its the wrong approach.

arvinsim 9y ago

And yet a lot of people smoke.

skummetmaelk 9y ago
In the US there has been a steady decline: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/ci... Almost three quarters of all smokers in the US want to quit: http://news.gallup.com/poll/163763/smokers-quit-tried-multiple-times.aspx http://news.gallup.com/poll/163763/smokers-quit-tried-multip... I think it is pretty clear that the information and social stigma campaigns run by people who care about the health of their fellow citizens have been effective.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  in many other countries smoking is on the increase so it hasnt been as nearly effective as you think.
  - klez 9y ago
    Can you give some data please? What I found was current data, but not trends.
- pferde 9y ago
  That doesn't mean much. I know several people who have wanted to quit smoking for 20+ years now.
  - isostatic 9y ago
    Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it 5 times!
  - skummetmaelk 9y ago
    This means that they are addicted. They still want to quit. They know it's bad, but are incapable of quitting because they value the short term fix over long term health. So why not try to help them do what they know is best for them instead of throwing our hands up in the air and saying "your problem buddy". Humans are notoriously bad at estimating future vs. current value. I think we should help people make good long term decisions instead of letting biology sabotage us.

martin_drapeau 9y ago

Smoking will kill you. Liking funny cat videos on Facebook won't. I think you are comparing oranges and apples here.

skummetmaelk 9y ago
Poor privacy choices can severely damage your future career and thereby quality of life. I'd say that is also pretty severe.
- martin_drapeau 9y ago
  That is a good point. If any type of legislation should come out of this, it should be about usage of social media data by companies. They should not be able to discriminate people because of things they do in their private lives. In fact, they shouldn't have the right to investigate it unless it relates to the job (i.e. checking that a community manager does in fact use Twitter and Facebook in an efficient way). There may be exceptions but for 90% of the jobs out there - it makes no sense.
  - skummetmaelk 9y ago
    It's just very hard to make laws against that. There are laws forbidding discrimination based on gender and race, yet we still know that this is commonplace. I personally think it is better to tackle the issue by making it harder/impossible for companies to obtain this data and allowing users to force companies to delete ANY data they have on them by request.
    - martin_drapeau 9y ago
      It is hard but needs to exist. Discrmination will always exist and its no reason to give up and not have a law. The law is important. Information should be freely available. Making it impossible to obtain would lead towards information control like China and Russia. Its the wrong approach.