Online Privacy..Is this possible?
This weeks discussion about online privacy and what measures the government has gone to invade people’s privacy has shocked me. According to an article on Three Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy the Federal Trade Commission is looking at putting five privacy measures in place by the end of this year. Here is three of them:
1. A universal “Do-Not-Track” tool that you could activate to prevent companies from recording your online activities and using them to display personalized advertising. Consumers would only have to opt-in once and companies would be required to comply — a big improvement over the piecemeal approaches currently available.
2. Standard disclosures for mobile apps so users know exactly what data an app will access and how it will be used. For instance, if an app would use your contact list, you’d know that before you downloaded it. California has already called for this type of disclosure.
3. A new website that would identify companies called data brokers who collect and sell your information to advertisers. The site would make it easy to see what information has been collected about you and who is using it.
Companies may not be able to track your “digital footprint” but the government still can. The title of the article is hypocritical as your online presence will never be private.
denisekirkpatrick 