Do You Care About Privacy Online? Discuss Security, Encryption, Privacy

[RainMaker]

I was having a discussion about this the other day and wondering what people think. It seems more and more companies are tracking everything we do online. They have a ridiculous amount of data about what we do, where we go, what we buy, and so on. I'm wondering if people really care or really think much about it.

I personally don't care too much, although I do admit being creeped out about certain things. I understand there is a trade-off of getting free services in return for them serving me personalize ads.

Now the things I'm talking about are what a lot of major companies are doing. For instance Google tracks everywhere your device has been for as long as you've owned it. You can log-in to your account and see exactly where you were March 21, 2013. It'll tell you exactly what you searched for on YouTube 3 years ago to the day.

Facebook and Twitter track where you go online. Every site that has a "Tweet this" or Facebook icon on it is tracking you and your account that you're logged into.

You get the point. I'm just curious if others have thought about this and what it might mean going forward.

[RainMaker]

If you have a Google account by the way, log-in and click "Account". Click on "Account History" tab and see what they are currently tracking. If you click "Manage History" you can view all that stuff.

I didn't realize they had this stuff till the other day and was kind of freaked out that I could map exactly where I was on each and every day.

[Lathum]

I'm not bothered by it and don't think much about it. I think it is just the price we pay for technology.

Another good one, I have a voicemail from Kroger the other day telling me there was a recall on some almond butter I bought. They tracked it through my club card, used the number on file, and made a robocall to me.

[RainMaker]

Also Apple making encryption the default setting and Android going the same route shortly. Thought that was an interesting move. Does anyone here encrypt their devices?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think (having just this weekend turned off, intentionally, Google's ability to track my phone location) it's a very case-by-case thing for me.

I don't particularly care about cookie tracking on surfing for example. My Ad-Block use is tight enough that them having aggregated data on my habits has very little impact on my life. Yes, the irony of my career and my intentional avoidance of advertising is not lost on me ... but at the same time I don't really get mad if other people choose to make the effort to avoid ads either. I'm extremely hard to reach with advertising, if you want to put the energy into the same thing (or if your lifestyle just makes that true) I'm cool with that.

I'll answer your survey questions about whatever if I have time & patience to do so but I don't really like you scraping my FB wall trying to pull my opinions on the same subjects.

I think maybe it comes down to how I perceive your intentions for the information AND whether the methods you use to obtain the info feel "black hat" to me or not.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think (having just this weekend turned off, intentionally, Google's ability to track my phone location) it's a very case-by-case thing for me.

I don't particularly care about cookie tracking on surfing for example. My Ad-Block use is tight enough that them having aggregated data on my habits has very little impact on my life. Yes, the irony of my career and my intentional avoidance of advertising is not lost on me ... but at the same time I don't really get mad if other people choose to make the effort to avoid ads either. I'm extremely hard to reach with advertising, if you want to put the energy into the same thing (or if your lifestyle just makes that true) I'm cool with that.

I'll answer your survey questions about whatever if I have time & patience to do so but I don't really like you scraping my FB wall trying to pull my opinions on the same subjects.

I think maybe it comes down to how I perceive your intentions for the information AND whether the methods you use to obtain the info feel "black hat" to me or not.

I pretty much agree.

I don't mind Google tracking me, or Amazon for that matter, based on things I buy/search for. If it's beneficial to me and it's unobtrusive that's fine. If you're facebook and you want to as Jon says, scrape my wall for info to target ads at me and family/friends...well maybe that's going a bit too far.

[RainMaker]

The Google Now stuff is kind of creepy if you enable it on your phone. It apparently remembered when I'd leave and come home from work and give me traffic updates before I did so. I also had bought a plane ticket and it would give me an update on the status of it which I'm guessing it found in my e-mail.

I do wonder if this is a big help for law enforcement.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The Google Now stuff is kind of creepy if you enable it on your phone. It apparently remembered when I'd leave and come home from work and give me traffic updates before I did so. I also had bought a plane ticket and it would give me an update on the status of it which I'm guessing it found in my e-mail.

I do wonder if this is a big help for law enforcement.

What you call creepy I call awesome. I can't tell you how many traffic jams on the way to/from work it's routed me around just by popping up that card and showing me the different options.

Some of the flight stuff "Time to leave for the airport" is pretty awesome too.

I mean obviously there's privacy concerns with that sure, but if you're okay with Google knowing where you live and work (which let's be honest they do by your browsing history anyways) then it's really a non-issue.

[BillJasper]

As long as they don't know when I'm picking my ass, I'm good.

[RainMaker]

Yeah I don't mean to make it sound like a bad thing. I use a lot of the features. I just mean sometimes you see something popup and realize just how much data they have on you.

The only thing I cared to turn off was Search History. Don't need someone pulling that up someday.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Yeah I don't mean to make it sound like a bad thing. I use a lot of the features. I just mean sometimes you see something popup and realize just how much data they have on you.

The only thing I cared to turn off was Search History. Don't need someone pulling that up someday.

yeah I second that. Haha.

[Easy Mac]

I'm in the don't really care section. If they really cared about the minutia of my life, they would get bored extremely quickly, I live it and get bored with it quickly. I don't even notice ads on websites. I guess if I used Facebook or Twitter more aggressively, the targeting might bother me.

I've pretty much come to the realization that someone can get any information I put out there or is already out there (like my SSN, thanks state of South Carolina), so its not like it matters.