Internet Privacy

I found the article on Privacy and Enhanced Personalization overall to be fairly interesting to read. I realize that I can’t speak entirely for my generation, but in my personal experience I have definitely observed there to be a lack of interest in privacy on the Internet among my peers. I don’t say that to necessarily say there is a problem yet but I could see how it could become a problem. I am also as guilty as the next person for agreeing to something or entering my information online without proper forethought of how the information might be used.

The article talked about three different groups of people that surveys since the early 1980s were able to identify. These three groups identify the majority of people’s attitudes towards Internet privacy. There are the “privacy fundamentalists” (generally express extreme concern about any use of their data and an unwillingness to disclose information), the “privacy unconcerned” (express mild concern for privacy, and mild anxiety about how other people and organizations use information about them), and the “privacy pragmatists”  (far more willing to disclose personal information when they understand the reasons for its use, see benefits for doing so, or see privacy protections in place).

Reading about these groups found from surveys made me think about what group I would believe myself to belong to. Thinking about this led me to think that one of the reasons my generation is a little more trusting of sharing information is because we grew up with the technology. When I was younger I was definitely a “privacy fundamentalist” I refused to use any personal information when signing up for anything. I even used fake names and birthdays to set up emails. However, over the years my view has changed and I believe I probably fall into the group of the “privacy unconcerned” now. I mainly say this because the article pointed out that many people are open to the idea of their experiences on the Internet being more personalized, however I personally have little desire to have my Internet experiences more personalized. I prefer to find things myself and generally don’t like the idea of my experience on the Internet being geared towards myself in any way which is why I still refuse to like business on Facebook or share more than the bare minimum of my personal information. This makes me wonder if others think that their trust of the internet (whether it is high or low) is directly related to their experiences with it growing up as well?