Last week Edward Snowden shared the news that the NSA collects data from phone customers and keeps it for its use as it sees fit. Apparently it also collects user data from Google, Facebook, and some other sites.
After the first year anniversary of dating my boyfriend, I started getting engagement ring ads on Facebook (why I got them and he didn't, I don't know!). After we got engaged, Facebook started giving me wedding dress ads. Google ads always seem to "know" where I am or what I'm interested in: concert ticket ads for bands I like, flower ads in my wedding colors, jewelry ads, etc. If Facebook and Google "know" these things about me, why are people shocked by the revelation that the NSA knows all of that plus our phone numbers and emails?
We are in an age of oversharing: people are willingly putting all the little details of their lives in public places. I don't think it's surprising at all that corporations and the government are using what we give them. Sure, there are "privacy policies" on Facebook and Google, but come on; who really thinks they have a private Facebook page? It seems ridiculous to even put "private" and "Facebook" in the same sentence!
In all honesty, I've always assumed that the government knows everything I put online, every phone call I make, and everywhere I go that has a guest list. I don't mind that at all; it's my choice to "check in" when I get to certain places, use a cell phone, and "like" different things online. I am willingly sharing my life with my friends, strangers, and government, so I don't feel like I should be very upset that all of that data is collected.
What I do mind is the part of Snowden's report that explains that the government can use any and all of the data it's collecting now (and has been collecting) in the future to paint someone as something they're not. For example, ten years from now, let's say I write an inflammatory article condemning something the government does. Let's say it gets lots of attention and the government doesn't like it. The government could come back to this article that I'm writing now, find all my other articles, and paint me as someone who is argumentative, jumps on big news stories, and likes attention, thereby either discrediting me or turning me into this long-time radical political activist who needs to be--*cough, cough, wink, wink*--detained.
Do I get to choose what I share with the government? Kind of. Do I get to choose how the government uses the information I share? Not a chance! So. Is it ethical for the government to collect the information I willingly share with anyone who can find it on the internet? I'm going to go ahead and say, "sure." Yes, "requesting" my provided information from companies is different than "collecting" information unknowingly, but the government has made thousands of requests for personal information from Facebook and Google and I'm willing to bet that it was unbeknownst to those users. If the government "collects" my information without my knowledge, fine.
Technically, any one of us can "collect" any information on anyone we want and we definitely don't have to tell them. I'm willing to bet that out of my 1,000+ Facebook friends, I could find at least 10 where I could go back in their "timelines" and find something that I could twist to make look horrible and get them fired from their jobs. Frankly, I am more concerned about the prospect of a Facebook "friend" that I met once five years ago trying to ruin my career for their own amusement than I am about the fact that the government is "collecting" my information.
This is a massive debate that is important to have, but we need to realize that it will be ongoing for as long as technology advances. I think we need to come to terms with the fact that while technology helps us and gives us access to things we couldn't even have imagined 50 years ago, it also gives strangers an inside look at our own personal lives; strangers that (for now) include the government.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi
P.S. Hi, NSA, CIA, and/or FBI agent who's reading this to make sure I'm not a terrorist! Spoiler alert: I'm not. Hope you guys and gals have a wonderful day!
