[LINK] RFC: Web 2.0

[Kim Holburn]

On 2006/Nov/24, at 2:32 PM, Craig Sanders wrote:
> what's not OK by me is hiding the fact that such sites have privacy
> implications, and that data the user doesn't even think about has  
> value
> to others, and that providing it freely to web sites may (and probably
> will) result in them being profiled by marketing organisations and
> getting more junk mail, phone spam, and email spam.
>
> targetted spam doesn't mean you get LESS advertising junk, it means  
> you
> get targetted crap in addition to the scatter-shot junk.
>
>
>> When the information is not particularly private anyway gcal still
>> gives you a range of sharing options.
>
> most people have no idea about privacy, or what can be (and is)  
> done with
> their data.  they think nothing of giving out their contact details  
> and other
> personal information about themselves.  worse, they think nothing  
> of giving
> out their friends' contact information when encouraged to do so  
> (e.g. with
> "invite your friend" or "email this page to a friend" links on web  
> sites).
>
> i.e. i have much more of a problem with user-ignorance about  
> privacy issues
> than i do with the existence of particular sites.

Yeah, and it's an important issue but what do you do about it?  For  
instance, when you discuss how SSL certificates work with most people  
their eyes glaze over and they suddenly find they have an urgent  
appointment.  Are you going to go the nanny path and force all sites  
to be safe (as if you could either force them or work out how to make  
it safe) or make sites show strange dialog boxes that no-one  
understands anyway?

Or are you just pointing out yet another division in society (there  
are 2 kinds of people in the world: those who understand security and  
those who don't)?

--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph/F: +61 2 62577881 M: +61 417820641
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961