1. Nothing we post online is truly private. Anything we post, even if we do it under the guise of
our self protection to a company we trust, can be used by another company who purchases the
one we trusted and now holds the information. It can, also be grabbed by hackers as proven by
recent cyber-attacks in the past few years. Anything we put out there on the internet, especially
on social media can and more likely, will, be used against us.
Webster’s Dictionary defines privacy as the state of being apart from other people or concealed
from their view; solitude; the state of being free from unwanted or undue intrusion or disturbance
in one's private life or affairs; freedom to be let alone; freedom from damaging publicity, public
scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure of one’s personal data or information, as
by a government, corporation, or individual. But privacy is harder to come by with this all-
knowing electronic age. Webster’s Dictionary defines online as connected to, served by, or
available through a system and especially a computer or telecommunications system, as the
Internet.
By these definitions privacy seems to mean disconnected from others while online seems to
mean connectivity to data bases and others. So the phrase, online privacy sounds like an
oxymoron. Can individuals give up their personal data that they willingly put on the internet and
expect it to remain secure? After all once it is posted online via Facebook, other social media or
even online surveys for a free item, who controls this information and who gets to view the
information then? We know it is nearly impossible to guarantee removal from all the recesses of
the internet, including other internet users databases and corporate databases. These data bases
often collect information without the users even giving much thought to who owns this data,
once released. With vague and constantly changing agreements and privacy policies of online
databases, as well as corporate mergers, who knows who will own that information in the end?
The collection of data has been ongoing since the advent of social media sites. This collection of
our thoughts, ideas, likes and dislikes is information companies would love to own use for direct

2. marketing as well as target marking to demographics we belong to. There seems to be a privacy
paradox we have created and abide by today. We seem to lack any awareness of the potential
risk of the information we willingly allow to become public knowledge on social media sites.
We are happy to blog away, journaling our lives for the public to see.
Speaking of this data, Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren, stated “Information is going to be our
generation’s next natural resource like steam was to the 19th century,” she said. That’s because
“there are a number of technology shifts and their convergence is happening at once.” Basically
the convergence of data mining and the mobile computing with our smart phones are giving
stores the opportunity to real time marketing while you are walking down their aisles. Imagine
getting a coupon for 20% off a specific section of a store that you are shopping in at that
moment. This is the real time marketing that smart mobile is already able to deliver. (Thau)
Just this weekend was a prime example of the ability to track someone through social media in
real time. This experiment was done within my own social circle, with my information being the
one compromised. This weekend, I attended the funeral of a 33 year old cousin. This death was
unexpected and sudden. The services quickly planned by her husband and local church. I went
onto Facebook to get the details from the event Facebook page. I drove down, paid my respects
and then drove back to attend the Habitat for Humanity’s 2nd annual trivia night. When I awoke
there were 8 tags as to my whereabouts for the past 24 hours, not one of which I posted, liked or
contributed to in any way other than my appearance at those events. If I had a stalker, they
would have known where I was within an hour of my appearance at each event. This turn of
events and a virtual play-by-play of them online are quite scary to me. I did nothing more than
live my life, going to places I needed and wanted to go. I made no social media posts to my
whereabouts or doings for the day. But because of family and friends social media posts, my
whereabouts were disclosed for the public to see on Facebook. This information leak happened
because of two friends and three family members have their posts set for public. I had no control
or input to their posts, but there I am, mentioned by name and location.

3. Take into account that, per Pew Research in 2006, 84 percent of Facebook users use their correct
date of births, I am one. Add in that 56 percent have posts that reference their make, model of
car, or have photos of their car, and again I am one of those. While my postings are set to friends
only, it wouldn’t take much to know who I was, where I was headed and in what car I was
headed there in. This is flat out scary, and that while I think I am being careful, I am still
exposed by my friends and family to cyberstalking. Given that my ex-wife and some of her
friends still cyberstalk me, that makes me feel uncomfortable. I suppose I had some hope of
privacy and security, but that seems to have been given up to my electronic lifestyle. While I am
careful with my information, my friends and family are not, therefore exposing me to unwanted
tracking and judgments of my ex-wife, her friends, family and others. All this because my
relatives and friends made public social media posts, this information combined with previous
social media posts about my white 2012 Camaro would make it pretty easy to track me. (PEW)
I do not think the original intention of social media was ever to track someone and their location
information and frequency to eating and shopping establishments, but that is just what my i-
Phone 5s does every day. And all it takes is the wrong party to get this information and who
knows what might happen. “Social networking users and their personal information are the
products. If everything were private, the site would have no data on which to capitalize” stated
Pauline Anthonysamy. Indeed, how would Facebook be able to continue to grow and provide its
users with service if it were not able to sell the information it collects to marketers.
Anthonysamy’s study stated “Although social networking sites continue to attract millions of
diverse users worldwide, they remain plagued by privacy compromises that breed user
dissatisfaction and lack of trust.” Anthonysamy added “Our analysis reveals an overall lack of
traceability and transparency.” (Anthonysamy, Rashid, and Phil Greenwood) If that doesn’t
make someone shudder then they haven’t read 1984 or seen Johnny Mnemonic, where a
government suppresses and oppresses its people through the use of technology and control of
information.

4. A global study conducted by Infosys, found Americans far less troubled by sharing personal data
with companies than countries such as Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Australia. The
study cited 88 percent of Americans state they were comfortable sharing data with retailers
online vs. 57 percent of Germans. It seems as though Americans are unconcerned with their
personal data and how it might be used. It seems their willingness to give up their personal
information is just a freebie away. Compared to their European and Australian counterparts, it
seems as though Americans are oblivious to the risks of their information falling in the wrong
hands. (Diane Brady)
However American adults are not the only ones who give up too much information. According
to a Pew Internet study more than 20 percent of 12-to-17 year olds have blogs, and over half of
those are not monitored by any adult. This is happening even though most blog sites have 18
and older age restrictions. Many teens show no restraint or regard to what they post online, no
matter how sensitive it may be. They haven’t the experience to know what to post and what not
to post. Even worse, there is a growing trend for teens to have blogging journals. Diaries are
supposed to be private for a reason, so as not to embarrass us with reference in the future. But an
online diary blog without the ability to delete it and any copies online could be crippling to a
young adult trying to get their first job after college graduation. Or worse, their own teen peers
could use it to cyberbully the author. Without adult guidance, youth tends to make poor choices
online. (Downes)
Yet, how do we trust adults to help American youth to make correct choices on what they post or
release online, given the adults lack of concern about their own personal information. In a
review of my female Facebook friends profile information I found that over 20 percent had
personal information listed on their profile. By personal information, I am referring to phone
numbers, workplace addresses and physical addresses of their homes. This is disturbing as all it
would take is a stalker or vindictive ex-boyfriend/husband to do who knows what to them. So
how can these 20-50 year olds be counted on to protect and oversee their teens’ online posts?
Per Pew Research in 2013, 46% of teen apps users have turned off location tracking features on

5. their cell phone or in an app because they were worried about the privacy of their information
and among teen apps users; girls are considerably more likely than boys to say they have
disabled location tracking features (59% vs. 37%). So this tells me their teenage daughters could
teach the adults something about how to disconnect and not make everything, including location,
public on social media. (PEW)
I believe better education is necessary to all adults and teens alike to better protect them from
potential detriment from social media usage. “Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up”
stated Veronica Roth. I agree, and until the American public begins to respect and fear the
power of social media and the potential irreversible actions their posts, rants and giving away of
personal information can cause, they will stumble blindly on. The Internet has created a
database of semi-permanent to completely permanent information that will outlive its users. It is
time we learn to respect that.
Sources:
"Social Networking Privacy: Understanding the Disconnect from Policy to Controls, by
Anthonysamy, Rashid, and Phil Greenwood, Computer, June 2013, Volume 46
“How Big Data Helps Stores Like Macy’s and Kohl’s Track You Like Never Before.” by
Barbara Thau, Forbes, January 24, 2014
“Privacy Paradox: Americans Happy to Share Personal Data With Big Business” by Diane
Brady, Businessweek, June 25, 2013

6. “Teens Who Tell Too Much” by Sue Downes, New York Times, January 15, 2006.
“What teens said about social media, privacy, and online identity” “How Much Information is
Too Much Information” and “Teens and Mobile Apps Privacy” PEW Research, 2013