Go on, track me
It feels like not a week goes by without someone posting something about how Facebook's invading everyone's privacy, spying on your browser history, etc., ad nauseum. (These posts are usually made on Facebook, by the way.)
I understand the generic concern over the Orwellian slippery slope, but it doesn't take me too long to re-assess and arrive back at my old conclusion: Who cares?
Facebook tracks you. BFD. Plenty of other websites have cookies and sneaky tricks that do the same thing. Ninety-five percent of it is for advertising; the other five percent is so the government knows where you are in case aliens demand access to the Fort Knox DNA blood reserve where everyone's clones are kept in jars ... or so I've been told.
Point is, I don't care if some crazy ad wants to tell me Wisconsin residents get cheap insurance and free Viagra if I click on a GIF of a dancing granny. I just ignore it. And unless you're a CIA mega-hacker, you've already been tracked, so doing something about it now isn't going to do squat.
I'm still vigilant with my Facebook privacy settings. There are weird people out there, and they're far more likely to have ulterior motives against me. Is worrying over "The Man" or a super computer in Langley worth my time? Not really.
In fact, they can track me all they want – I'm sure my Netflix history and reposted memes are fascinating.
Talkbacks
SDeangelis | Jan. 4, 2013 at 3:54 p.m. (report)
I first I was shocked at how carelessly you discounted everyone's right to privacy based on your own trivial online lifestyle, but there is a serendipitous flash of unintended brilliance in this piece. In this single short essay, you (inadvertently, I assume) managed to reconcile the contradictory philosophies of both George Orwell (who you directly referenced) and Aldous Huxley. Fascinating.
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littletinyfish | Jan. 4, 2013 at 9:53 a.m. (report)
Always good to remember, if you aren't paying for it, YOU'RE the product being sold.
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