privacy privacy privacy...

I came across an article today while browsing the web that made me both laugh and almost cry at the state of our society.


The title of the article alone made me cringe and I must admit I sat there in disbelief for a few seconds trying to comprehend if this article was for the real.

‘Google Suggests Name Changes to Protect Privacy’. Yes, that was the headline that accompanied the short article about how Googles CEO believes “…that name changes will be the only way to hide your history.” By history he is refering to all those silly things you posted on Facebook or Myspace all those years ago, that are now completely humiliating and to some extent, damging to your reputation.

Eventually, after reading the article I got thinking about the privacy issues that keep making headlines all over the place. It seems that everywhere you look people are complaining about Facebook and how their privacy setting are just too complicated. Or that Facebook is invasive. The list is endless.

As a Facebook enthusiast (which you may have noticed in my previous post) I do not personally feel like I have anything to run and hide from. But I do understand why others would be concerned about their privacy. But not to the extent where they would have to change their name in the fututre in order to run and hide from their past. I think that’s a little bit over the top and silly. But it is reality.

You know that there is a problem with privacy and social networking sites when articles are being published about people needing to change their names to hide from their past.

I found a website a few months ago called ‘Openbook’ which was created to demonstrate the problem with Facebook and how public and open it is to everyone by allowing you to search a key word and acces thousands of status updates by facebook users containing that key word. Again, even as a Facebook enthusiast I tink that ‘Openbook’ highlights some key problems with privacy. Funnily enough when you try to share that website on Facebook, Facebook doesn’t allow it because it is ‘spam’.

I hear a lot of people talk about how back in their days they could roam the streets for hours and their parents wouldn’t mind…but apparently now, in this day and age, privacy is such a big concern that people are scared to let their children outside at all. I guess if their children did go out and be social they would have to change their names in a few years time to protect their privacy too.