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Everyone remembers decades ago, the fear of having a first/last name online. That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. What if o

Everyone remembers decades ago, the fear of having a first/last name online. That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. What if our movements are similar? Everyone knows where you work and where your home. Whatever the case, the next few years will decide if we value privacy or endless features.

akerro 8y ago
I dont care what your fullname is, but mind telling me what your address is and when you're leaving home with that 50' plasma TV for 2 weeks holiday?
- paulie_a 8y ago
  A tv that has basically zero resale value?
gumby 8y ago
> Whatever the case, the next few years will decide if we value privacy or endless features. Or if it's worth making cool new features that preserve the user's privacy. I don't see that there is an inherent tradeoff.
- bmomb 8y ago
  I think that cool features that protects user privacy is hard to come by because this is not the type of feature that brings money. Protecting the user is (in most of the cases) fighting ads.
onion2k 8y ago
That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. ...where "we" is limited to people in Western democracies with governments that don't oppress their citizens. People in countries that have less enlightened governments have often had a pretty bad time after posting things online in ways that security services have been able to monitor, track, and use as the basis for imprisonment and worse. I don't believe that Google is passing data about people to oppressive regimes, but there are damn good reasons why people think privacy is important for all internet users.
- jmisavage 8y ago
  The fact Google is making a search engine specific to China to meet their requirements for censorship opens the door for that very specific thing. First it's hiding results that the government doesn't want seen. Next it will be reporting who's looking for censored topics. It's a slippery slope.
wolco 8y ago
Real names has led to people being fired people being fired. The fear around social media and guarding your profile is to prevent future employers, family and people you know in life from finding out things you do not wish to share. Being tracked with a real name attached creates these privacy issues. The advertisers demanded but it lessens the experience ij many ways.
hiccuphippo 8y ago
Has having your SSN online become less dangerous since the Equifax leak?
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  Not really. I expected the Equifax leak to lead to a widespread move away from SSN being effectively your password for signing up for new financial accounts, but nothing has really changed as far as I'm aware.
sophistication 8y ago
A killer drone would have a much easier time eliminating someone knowing their location compared to just knowing their name.
- pasta 8y ago
  For people who think this is BS: better not use Google products in Pakistan for example.
macintux 8y ago
This sounds like a male perspective. Women have a very different view on how safe they are when anyone can find out who they are and where they live.
- snvzz 8y ago
  What a sexist view.
  - macintux 8y ago
    I thought it was indisputable that women are stalked vastly more frequently than men, harassed more often online, and typically less comfortable being alone in dangerous areas.
    - snvzz 8y ago
      Lack of scepticism, if anything.
YouKnowBetter 8y ago
Same story for mobile service providers. Cellphone companies have known your "exact" location for the last 20 years. There is a lot less oversight or scruples in the engineering teams of providers (that I have worked at) then I have seen at Google and the likes. Nobody (but a couple of spies, smart crooks & prewarned govermental types) take any measures to hide from them, or complain about this information being available. Luckily for us, telecom companies are not that smart|agressive when it comes to finding new revenue streams. Be it based on your (phone's) location or their excellent position to offer verified identity services, since they have a payment relation with all their customers.
- acct1771 8y ago
  Bullshit. They're great at it. They just don't tell you/"you" (general populace) don't bother to inform yourself about it. See: Verizon buying up ad networks, CarrierIQ, etc
CaptSpify 8y ago
> That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. Tell that to people who have been doxxed. Or people who have had their stalkers find them. Or people who have been arrested by oppressive governments... The list goes on

akerro 8y ago

I dont care what your fullname is, but mind telling me what your address is and when you're leaving home with that 50' plasma TV for 2 weeks holiday?

paulie_a 8y ago
A tv that has basically zero resale value?

gumby 8y ago

> Whatever the case, the next few years will decide if we value privacy or endless features. Or if it's worth making cool new features that preserve the user's privacy. I don't see that there is an inherent tradeoff.

bmomb 8y ago
I think that cool features that protects user privacy is hard to come by because this is not the type of feature that brings money. Protecting the user is (in most of the cases) fighting ads.

onion2k 8y ago

That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. ...where "we" is limited to people in Western democracies with governments that don't oppress their citizens. People in countries that have less enlightened governments have often had a pretty bad time after posting things online in ways that security services have been able to monitor, track, and use as the basis for imprisonment and worse. I don't believe that Google is passing data about people to oppressive regimes, but there are damn good reasons why people think privacy is important for all internet users.

jmisavage 8y ago
The fact Google is making a search engine specific to China to meet their requirements for censorship opens the door for that very specific thing. First it's hiding results that the government doesn't want seen. Next it will be reporting who's looking for censored topics. It's a slippery slope.

wolco 8y ago

Real names has led to people being fired people being fired. The fear around social media and guarding your profile is to prevent future employers, family and people you know in life from finding out things you do not wish to share. Being tracked with a real name attached creates these privacy issues. The advertisers demanded but it lessens the experience ij many ways.

hiccuphippo 8y ago

Has having your SSN online become less dangerous since the Equifax leak?

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
Not really. I expected the Equifax leak to lead to a widespread move away from SSN being effectively your password for signing up for new financial accounts, but nothing has really changed as far as I'm aware.

sophistication 8y ago

A killer drone would have a much easier time eliminating someone knowing their location compared to just knowing their name.

pasta 8y ago
For people who think this is BS: better not use Google products in Pakistan for example.

macintux 8y ago

This sounds like a male perspective. Women have a very different view on how safe they are when anyone can find out who they are and where they live.

snvzz 8y ago
What a sexist view.
- macintux 8y ago
  I thought it was indisputable that women are stalked vastly more frequently than men, harassed more often online, and typically less comfortable being alone in dangerous areas.
  - snvzz 8y ago
    Lack of scepticism, if anything.

YouKnowBetter 8y ago

Same story for mobile service providers. Cellphone companies have known your "exact" location for the last 20 years. There is a lot less oversight or scruples in the engineering teams of providers (that I have worked at) then I have seen at Google and the likes. Nobody (but a couple of spies, smart crooks & prewarned govermental types) take any measures to hide from them, or complain about this information being available. Luckily for us, telecom companies are not that smart|agressive when it comes to finding new revenue streams. Be it based on your (phone's) location or their excellent position to offer verified identity services, since they have a payment relation with all their customers.

acct1771 8y ago
Bullshit. They're great at it. They just don't tell you/"you" (general populace) don't bother to inform yourself about it. See: Verizon buying up ad networks, CarrierIQ, etc

CaptSpify 8y ago

> That turned out to be significantly less dangerous than we anticipated. Tell that to people who have been doxxed. Or people who have had their stalkers find them. Or people who have been arrested by oppressive governments... The list goes on