Privacy in the Digital Age...

This thread has been split from the Internet Privacy Tips thread

I don't think I am hi jacking this thread because generally its about privacy. This discussion reminds me of a discussion Carl and some of us had about a year ago - privacy & drones. Then it was the subject of drones gathering audio video information without my permission while I am on the back of my boat. There is no button we can press to stop those intrusions, and that is one of the reasons I am a proponent of reasonable regulations. I argue there should be a privacy zone et al. Photograph my hull or wake, but not my personal activity while I am aboard. A quick pan is one thing, but suppose I chose to clip my toe nails in the cockpit some morning, should the world be free to photograph that ugly sight?

Along this line, I am troubled by marinas that allow access to their video cameras. I wonder how many people at some of these dock locations realize that they are being zoomed in on by somebody every few minutes - and who knows who that voyeur is. The cameras are wide open to any user.

I believe we American citizens have become too willing to give up the privacy rights this great country has guaranteed all of us, rights that citizens of other countries would die for - literally. Facebook just exploits our naiveté. When is the last time you really read the lengthy privacy agreement you accept when you join some of these sites? We allow the pernicious nature of these sites because its easy to share your pictures?

Sorry about the rant....

You guys do just fine without me - I learn a lot here and enjoy the discussions. Glad you're at the helm.

Fish. you help me make my point. You use the technology conservatively and carefully. My children for example think nothing of giving a blow by blow description of what they are doing - including being on a business trip and therefore signal that their homes are vacant and unprotected. There is this false notion that if you push a button and "lock" these sites you're safe - faulty thinking as demonstrated by the recently discovered hack of more than 50 million user sites from Facebook.

BTW, Amazon knows your sock size.... We let these sites use their famous "tracking cookies" simply because if we don't, they will deny access. Shouldn't we have to opt in not out?

Another rant....

Carl

Its not you I'm concerned with, it's the guys who break into your site. Dunno what the remedy is, but "burglary" on the net has become an art form?

My only point is that all sites are susceptible. A forum may be low value, but let's not deny it susceptibility. If the government made it a real high penalty crime, instead of hiring the best of the best hackers, maybe some of it would stop. IMO the whole system is biased toward the collector, not the user. Think of the "old" banking rules, which were tighter than a virgin's.... If you got caught breaching those rules, you sat in a small cement room for a long time, unless of course your were one of the "robber barons" - a different story, maybe not?

Apologies for the gamey metaphor.

Is it called corporate espionage? Goes on all the time. We would never read their thoughts on the net. Their stuff is so heavily encrypted, the NSA has difficulty reading it.

Unfortunately, the guy who uses it to protect his privacy probably gets into more trouble than the guy on the other end of that drone camera.