Thoughts on Privacy

I was reading an article on privacy from Harvard Magazine as well as an article I read in EduCase and I wanted to share. Here are links to both:


7 Things You Should Know about Privacy in Web 2.0 Learning Environments

The Erosion of Prviacy in the Internet Era

Everything is now digital and everyone uses credit or debit cards way more than cash. I must say that I am extremely uncomfortable with the fact that my purchase history can be sold to the government and can affect my future considerations for things like higher credit limits all the way up to loans (and who knows why the government is interested in it). We don't see many ramifications of this now, but what could happen in the future? As the government gets bigger and we become more dependent on the government (which is happening during this administration in a big way), who could we turn to if we had unknowingly violated some future law. Let's take religion, for example. I am a Christian, and there is evidence of that through the purchases I make at Christian stores and Amazon.com. If this religion were to one day be outlawed, would I be hunted down and persecuted? Even if I wasn't a Christian anymore, would I still be persecuted? The article used the example of intellectual philosophers in the 1930's having discussions about socialism, which had ramifications later during another administration. These people were simply discussing the validity and applicability of an idea. Where is their crime? I know that some of these fears could be unfounded (although I don't really think so) but it is worth our time to ponder. Could the decisions you make today put you at risk...your life, your ability to gain financial independence, or even your ability to get the job you want in the future? And when you finally do become aware of this, as we are now, is the Internet really as free as we think it is? Sure, I have the freedom to publish anything I want and it can reach far, as far as China even...or perhaps it is reaching too far, further than I want it
to reach.