Privacy, Social Networking, and Search
September 17, 2010
Long ago, the former US Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren had said, “The fantastic advances in the field of communication constitute a grave danger to the privacy of the individual.” Years later, Google proved him right. Communication has taken the form of social networking, and Google had to pay up for its blunder of infringing on the privacy of Gmail users, over the ill-fated Buzz social networking service, which made the names of users’ Gmail contacts public. The PCWorld News “Google Settles Privacy Lawsuit Over Buzz” reports of Google’s costly compromise over its misadventure, and its renewed commitment for transparency by simplifying its privacy policies.
“The Internet Company has come under fire for the way it handles the growing amount of sensitive information that its users hand over,” informs the article, adding that the Buzz incident called for a national Do Not Track Me list by the Consumer Watchdog. Google is in news frequently for its stumbles or blunders, nevertheless it seems like apologizing and then mending its ways have become sort of ‘new normal’ for it.
Some view Google’s subsequent ‘caring about privacy’ policy as a gesture of good faith, and a necessary step in today’s social networking privacy scenario. The TechCrunch article “Google Streamlines Its Privacy Policy. Should Facebook Be Next?” calls for the “attention to the needless complexity of various web service privacy agreements, settings, and policies.” The author supports the ongoing debate around online privacy, and acknowledges Google’s recent steps to make the “minutiae of online privacy easier to understand.” Generalizing the issue, the author suggests, “Perhaps this concerted movement towards being more transparent and simple with regards to privacy would also work well for Facebook which, like Google, is currently involved in various scuffles.”
Can social networking retain its charms with curbs on privacy, or it’s just an initial resistance to openness? What should be searchable and by whom? Tough questions which seem to be of little interest to certain online users.
Leena Singh, September 17, 2010
Freebie
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
