In the online world of today, does privacy really exist?
The notion of “Internet Privacy” is considered by some to be an oxymoron in today’s online world. This article explores online privacy in light of recent events in China and stark comments from the Google CEO on his views towards online privacy.
The CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, has a controversial approach to internet privacy. His recent statement in a television interview with CNBC that:
“if you don’t want people to know what you’re doing online, then don’t do it”
is thought-provoking at the very least, and potentially sinister, if you consider the arsenal of information stored within his organisation on practically every member of the online community. While few will disagree with the invasion of a terrorist’s privacy, or the outing of otherwise nefarious individuals, certain uses of information provide a very real cause for concern.
Recent events in China, where human rights activists are alleged to have been targeted from within China, and in cases where the Chinese Government may request personal data in respect of these individuals from Google, the CEO of Google appears to have a casual approach to the protection of online privacy which may ring alarm bells for some. Of course, it does depend on the intended context of the comment, but the insinuation is that what Google knows about any given individual will be shared with whichever authority requests the information; a power that places the responsibility and privacy of your information in the hands of authorities.
On another level, this comment can be seen as a warning. A warning to all internet users that someone, somewhere, knows what you are doing online. It is a fact that emails exist as copies on a multitude of servers and that internet search records and ISP logs are all semi-permanent records of your online activity, which is what Eric Schmidt may have been alluding to. They exist, and therefore the possibility of your online activity being discovered exists. Schmidt’s comment could equate to saying
“don’t write anything down if you don’t want other people to know about it”.
except that he and his organisation hold written records containing personal information about many of us, and the questions in the interview were designed to investigate what he intends to do with it all. At which point it becomes a little unnerving, as perhaps an ideal answer (whether truthful or not) would have been:
“Google takes online privacy very seriously and goes to great lengths to ensure that your data is held secure within our organisation”.
However, the existence of online records is only part of the issue. The way in which these records are accessed and used is the salient point. Take this example from a recently published interview about privacy with a Facebook employee; the source is questionable, but the issues it raises are very real. For example:
“See, the thing is — and I don’t know how much you know about it — it’s all stored in a database on the backend. Literally everything. Your messages are stored in a database, whether deleted or not. So we can just query the database, and easily look at it without every logging into your account. That’s what most people don’t understand.”
So, pretty much any organisation you have touch-points with and their employees have access to your personal information. Additionally, any Government wanting to know about your online habits can snoop on you and, all in all, the notion of internet privacy would appear to be a bit of a misnomer at the very least.
Tags: ethical, Google, online privacy