In a poll last week, we asked Internet Evolution readers which Internet service they trust least with their personal data. Nearly 500 paranoid readers weighed in, producing the following results:
With a 36 percent plurality, social networking sites win out as the least trustworthy of all the online data consumers. Coming up right behind social networking sites in our poll, and in a
category of its own, is everyone's favorite data eater, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), which is seemingly distrusted by 27
percent of Internet Evolution readers.
It seems a tad nonsensical that users feel more wary about sharing info on such sensitive items as their favorite pizza toppings and their cats' tap dancing moves than, say, their credit card numbers -- but considering how much flack sites like Facebook and Google have gotten as of late for consuming our private data for their own agendas, it's understandable that Internet users are uneasy.
Much of this could possibly be attributed to last year's Facebook Beacon scandal, when we got an idea of how much data is being used and abused, without our direct permission, by Facebook. Since then, Beacon has been revamped, but not forgotten, and has effectively become synonymous with the phrase "privacy breach."
Google, too, collects data as we trample across the Web, dirtying up its carpet with evidence of where we've been and where we'll go, thus making us uneasy about what the big G knows about us and what it's telling its comrades in the ad industry.
But if the problem is this use of our data for targeted ads, where's the alarm surrounding e-commerce sites?
Just last week, for example, Amazon.com successfully launched a third-party widget for friend-to-friend (F2F) product recommendations on Facebook -- a very similar app to Beacon, except it's opt-in only and was not accompanied by a MoveOn petition and human sacrifice. When prodded (by me) about the similarities between the third-party app and its own Beacon program, Facebook declined to comment.
It's likely we've just become more accustomed to receiving ads from sites like Amazon, where we generally go to shop, than sites like Facebook, where we generally go to post inappropriate, job-endangering photos. The game is changing, however, as every online service is finding ways and reasons to incorporate ads. But as long as our social networking sites and Google sites continue to abandon transparency, secretly snatching up our data for sharing at every turn, we're not likely to re-establish a concrete level of trust.
I think people tend to trust online sites unless/until those sites do something blatant to betray that trust.
If sites say.. upfront.. that they will track you, and you choose to opt-in, trust is present. If sites say that they will not track you, and then secretly do and it's exposed, trust is betrayed.
Syamant asks: "if a bank or card company wants to know the social network profile of its customers and their transaction and other habits. Will we accept it ?"
People are not powerless to protect their privacy. For example, they can post on their social networking pages legally and ethically effective terms of use that prohibit banks from spying on the pages. (This idea is not legal advice for anyone, just something to talk about. Public comments are not a substitute for counsel from an attorney.)
Perhaps the concern with Social Networks is that they can make the entire network of a person vulnerable to some sort of a problem. Not just beacon, Facebook also faced some issues with programmes such as Zoost.
Should one consider P2P networks as Social Networks too ? They are a source of significant privacy breaches. These were covered in a very comprehensive report on Techweb . Credit card details, Social Security Numbers, RFP's and more were found to be floating around in these P2P networks.
A new advertising related service which has got the attention of ISP's and Privacy groups is Phorm. While the service itself says that the customer information is anonymously tracked , but the worrying factor is when it is layered with ISP information could it become a privacy threat ? Add another layer of social and mobile networks and it could be very interesting!
You made a very interesting point on credit card information being shared on Amazon. I think we are sort of resigned to using credit cards online and offline. And one hopes that fraud does not take place. What if , however, these sites and banks decide to mine data and do a mashup. Hypothetically speaking if a bank or card company wants to know the social network profile of its customers and their transaction and other habits. Will we accept it ?
Also, what role do organisations such as Truste and others play in the social networks, ISP's , Banks story. In a world of mashups, how do trust certifications work. Conversely is there an organisation that a customer signs up for that can certify the security of customer information.
In my view i think the poll result is very fair and would not even mind if Google should exchange ranks with social networking sites. You did not categorized ISPs and i think they are also a bunch of traitors when it comes to siphoning our private information. Who is going to respect our privacy is the million dollar question which at this juncture is turning up no sure answers. A former worker of Google in very candid terms said that Google is number one when it comes to protecting our privacy: Google and privacy
But the comments which follow his piece would tell you how distrustful people are becoming. So in all this our private information is at the mercy of the iffy privacy policy of these sites because they are simply becoming indispensable to us. I don't think the issue of unsolicited ads is much troubling now since it is becoming the accepted norm.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
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