People tend to think that privacy is important to them, especially with all the social media sites and apps that collect and use your data. This blog post is meant to argue that point that you, and most other people in the world hardly care about privacy.
In Value Sensitive Design and Information Systems, Friedman argues that human values are “implicated” in system design which I’m inclined to believe. He specifically included privacy as one of these values but he made sure not to say how each of the values is included.
Here is a great example about you not caring about your privacy, when was the last time you read the terms and conditions of something online? You’ve probably never even done it, just like me. You chose to submit your rights to a company without evening knowing what they were or what they plan on doing with them. I even found a photo of you signing up to TikTok last year.
Once people found out what companies like Facebook have been doing with their data they acted appalled, when in reality it didn’t even change most people’s habits. Facebook daily active users have risen since right before the Cambridge Analytica scandal to now and they didn’t even take a hit.
Try and see when on this graph the scandal broke on this graph, you might think you found it but that would be pure luck. It happened at the very end of Q1 2018 so it would be affecting the Q2 2018 numbers. There is absolutely no indication on this graph that anyone cared about the data breach, and even if they did, growth has continued through 2019 and into 2020.
As an Econ major, I think that people do what they want even if it contradicts what they claim to want. People have shown through action that they do not care about privacy every time they create an account and post photos, status updates, and share their location. Even with a “private” account they know that all their friends have access.
Facebook knows you don't care about your data, because of this they can collect much more than people ever thought was possible. They know you wont push back hard enough and it makes the most economic sense to take a social capital setback in order to construct a system that collects more data. You are the product on social media sites and the advertisers are the customers, the site itself is just a way to aggregate your attention for the consumer to use.
Hey Hayden, great article title, it was a firm kind of argumentative statement that got me to click on the post. The subject of the post is great and something I also think about a lot. You did a great job of connecting the reading with the world and then going even further by providing a different example and connecting all of this to the field of Economics. I also liked your Bird Box joke, it is a great way to keep the reader engaged and doesn't take away from the post. Overall really great post!
ReplyDeleteI like the title of your article, it really made me want to continue reading. The TikTok joke made me chuckle and it was a good way to add comedy into a more serious subject and keep the reader entertained. You did a great job of using Facebook and privacy as an example to tie to Friedman's reading. One thing you could add is maybe going more in depth about the reading or even connecting the Facebook example to another point in Friedman's reading.
ReplyDeleteI clicked because of your title, but continued to read because of the content. I enjoyed all the little jokes you added to continue to engage the reader and add levity to a serious topic. I agree with all the points you made and now that I've read your article, I feel like I really don't care about my privacy. You did a great job of connecting your topic to the reading and went beyond as to connect your topic to economics as well.
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