Picture this: you’re a salesperson selling security systems in a small neighborhood. A nearby business that’s had many people inquire about purchasing security systems offers to sell you a list of these people. Is it ethical for you to purchase that list? Is it ethical for the business to sell (or give away) the list? A current belief that is held in the “Open Source” community (and that was held in the infant stages of modern computers) is “everyone shares, everyone wins.” The principle of everyone sharing and everyone winning applies here too, right? I contend that it does NOT. Would you want someone watching you physically and selling information about your interests, habits and day-to-day activities? Many modern companies are actively tracking and recording every “digital move” you make (from simply surfing the Web to 'liking' to purchases you make with your credit card) and then using (or selling) this information. If this collection of digital data is to continue, well-defined standards that provide anyone the ability to “opt out” of being tracked, recorded and otherwise “followed” should be created and enforced. Those collecting data on individuals who have “opted out” should be legally punished. Unless such standards are enacted, I fear data collection will continue to slip towards a “share everything” mentality until nothing we do on the Internet will be safe from the scrutiny of anyone who cares to take a look.
Read the article that inspired this post here.
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