there are no easy answers to your question. Other professional groups (e.g. doctors) have their own chambers, and these set up codes of conduct for them. What’s more – they have the legal power to step in and eliminate individuals who do not obey. We (btw. – I’m more IT-related-person than UX creator, say – UX influencer, at the most) don’t have anything like that, because “Internet doesn’t belong to anybody”. I’m quite pessimistic on personal privacy issue – if you’d disregard W3C technical standard, you’ll be out of play, since no one will hear you. If you turn blind eye to W3C privacy standard (assuming there will be one) – who’d care if you still get through?

On the other hand – privacy has become a kind of currency we’re meant to pay with for content, entertainment etc., which otherwise seems to come free. And there are plenty of those, who’d be happy to do so. See yesterdays NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/technology/23share.html?th&emc=th

I’m well over 35 years in IT. In the beginning I just believed it was something what would relieve us of burdensome tasks, and let us enjoy more and more of free time. Now I become more and more concerned to where it (IT) is going to take us. And if we ever wanted to be there. See (also few days ago):

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/04/22/facebook-f8-internet-open-social-graph-semantic-web-twitter.aspx

So, it doesn’t come for free for us, we do pay for it with our privacy-currency, and we do pay also for those, for whom it comes free after all. See (yesterday, again):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/23/AR2010042305249.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

What’s even more to that – personal privacy as currency is a kind of one way system – once you give it away, you can’t earn it back, regardless of how much and how hard you’ll try.

with best wishes
Bogdan

Thank you for highlighting that people do not know what priority their data has. This is really what it’s all about. What I don’t understand is why so many people don’t seem to care.

Thanks for backing up my points. Yes, Facebook IS taking advantage of the general lack of concern about privacy.

And you point “Facebook has become the biggest social network partly by disregarding privacy concerns.” is particularly worrisome from a European advantage. Disregarding human rights (and apathy on the part of many) is what allows dictators to rise and conquer the minds of their followers. We saw this clearly in 1922 in Italy, 1933 in Germany. Spain at least had a bloody civil war before Franco came to power. Serbian politics in the 90s are related to this, too.

Hence, I see a danger in apathy.

And your final question is also mine: “Why aren’t the users demanding that they are protected?”

Good insights. And although I cannot speak intelligently to privacy from an Asian perspective, I tend to agree with you.

In paragraph three, you write, “The right that we need is for access to information to not be abused.” This is really the crux of the issue – when viewed from a European point of view. Europeans don’t see privacy as a means to an end, but as the end itself. And far too often in European history (and beyond), the lack of privacy has led to dire consequences. This is why a flippant remark by a rich adolescent like Mark Zuckerberg worries the hell out of me.

Cheers,
Eric

P.S. “adolescence” is not age determined. I know Zuckerberg is 26, but I’m not sure he’s ever truly grown up.)