The Exchange

As part of an ongoing column, I’ll be writing regular updates on topical issues relating to Human Rights in technology and the media.

Amidst all the (rightful) controversy over government moves towards a database state, events this week relating to key players in the world of social networking and online technology raise the issue of whether we ought to be looking a little closer to home for blatant infringements of our personal privacy.

How many of us would honestly be able to admit to checking the full terms and conditions of the countless online services they sign up to?  Realistically I think the number is extremely low, and there’s an increasing willingness amongst individuals to publish every aspect of their lives in the online sphere.  Controversy this week over Facebook’s quiet amendment to their terms and conditions governing what happens to your data when you delete your profile has brought this to the fore and forced them into an embarrassing backdown, at least for now.

One thing which people tend to forget when they sign up for services online is that virtually every social website out there is a profit making enterprise.  Facebook has recently increased the prominence of adverts across the site, but with advertising revenues dropping sharply as a result of the economic downturn, they will inevitably be driven towards alternative ways of generating profit, and with 175 million users posting information on virtually every aspect of their lives onto the site, including photos, events they plan to attend, and detailed information on their specific likes, dislikes and even sexual preferences and political allegiances, it’s not hard to see how your profile is a potential goldmine for advertisers looking to target a particular demographic.  More worryingly, as events of the past week have shown, whilst you might assume that the photos you upload onto Facebook remain your own property, Facebook themselves might take a different view.

Of even more immediate relevance, whilst Facebook status updates are generally fairly infrequent, the recent surge in popularity of ‘microblogging’ site, Twitter takes this to new extremes.  Not only can I stalk your profile to find out exactly what you’re up to at virtually any time, but it’s not exactly difficult to work out where you work, live and socialise.

Yes, we should be extremely concerned at the government’s plans for our personal data, but with an increasingly lengthly data trail following your around the internet (particularly if you use the same username on several sites), the steps involved for others to connect the dots between your online existence and your real world activities are perhaps fewer than you think.