The Tyranny of Social Networks: Time to Kiss Your Privacy Goodbye
"Only the naive would believe that there is such a thing as the private use of a social network - and that this supposed protection will hinder directors of human resources from checking their profiles before hiring them; that voters will not learn your are fooling around while married; or that spouses won't find out what you're doing when you go out to dinner with friends."
Social networks have taken us
all by surprise. Regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status, all of us
without exception, sooner or later, are subject to the problem. It’s logical
that some groups will be more vulnerable than others, mainly due to ignorance
of how these networks operate. Among those would be adults who believe
themselves to be anonymous, techno-phobic men and women allergic to technology,
and members of the lowest socioeconomic levels - and I say this without any
intent to disparage. Please keep reading.
GOODBYE PRIVACY ...
Our private lives are gone
forever, and with their loss, the risk increases of the sullying of one's
public image. Safeguarding one's privacy will become increasingly difficult now,
considering that anyone with a cell phone has become a potential spy on our privacy,
and can, when we may not expect it, transmit photos and videos.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Here we go … although our
profile is discreet and we created it so as not to draw anyone's interest, it
will happen. Even if we're no one important, a good story is so appealing that
it hardly matters who stars in it. One doesn't need to be famous to become a
major player on the social networks. Real world examples of both cases are: with
his naked torso, a U.S. House member seducing [women online]; the mother of a
famous singer and another well-known singer, dancing in lingerie (if taken separately,
the two events wouldn't even bare mentioning); a kid falls into water (on his
own accord); a young middling actress having oral sex with her boyfriend, and in
turn, the thief perpetrating his crime (thanks to the pictures he took ...
poor things, and they're still together); another famed artist drunk, talking
badly of her more famous colleagues; a firefighter rescuing a fire victim and
becoming a public hero; a leading politician throws an extravagant party for
his daughter's first communion; a group of police are seen beating a
defenseless invalid; or a cute child dancing ... any of these could be reason for hundreds of
thousands of visits to any one of the social networks, and we might find out
about them almost from the moment they happen thanks to the technology that
allows them to be caught on camera, with or without the consent of the
protagonists, and depending on the whim of the camera-holder, assisted by more
technology, uploaded to the Web in a fraction of a second, instantaneously
disseminating the captured images.
THE REAL BIG BROTHER
Big Brother is here and is embodied
in each one of us who, with a tinge of pride, have been able to capture images
that will soon be seen by thousands - and adding to our incomes by selling information
to the media or through blackmail. Only the naive would believe that there is such a
thing as the private use of a social network - and that this supposed protection
will hinder directors of human resources from checking our profiles before
hiring us; that voters will not learn your're fooling around while married; or
that spouses won't find out what you're doing when you go out to dinner
with friends. Never mind. Now we all will have to be doubly careful about salvaging
what remains of our privacy.
*Víctor Gordoa is the rector of the Colegio de
Imagen Pública
