In April the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties hosted a seminar addressed by Kimberly Heitman of Electronic Frontiers Australia titled "Who watches Google, while they watch you?".
About 25 people attended, and I still find it difficult to believe that in a city the size of Brisbane, with a population in excess of 2 million, only 25 people are interested in their online privacy enough to take two hours out of a week to find out a little bit about the rights we have as netizens to privacy.
How often do you go on to a website to search for something you find personally interesting, and maintain at the back of your mind the awareness that what you are searching for has value to the people who want to sell you the object you are searching for, or information about it?
Imagine this: your mother-in-law has suggested that you buy sheets for your sister-in-law's wedding. Immediately, as a dutiful brother-in-law you launch yourself into Google searching for "300 thread count sheets Brisbane". You don't think about your Facebook page, or your Twitter account. You don't think about your eBay account or your e-mail account. You just search for those sheets.
The next day you walk into Big W, and the concierge walks up to you and introduces himself as Simon, saying "Good morning Mr S, I hope you are having an excellent day. Can I suggest you check our range of sheets in aisle 4 across to your left".
That scenario is not only possible, it could happen today if Google decided to buy Facebook. How would it make you feel to have this happen to you? Would you be impressed by the technology that allowed that to happen? That because somebody in your family or amongst your friends has tagged your photograph in Facebook and Google has been able to tie your Facebook account to your Google search? Would you be appreciative of Simon's attention to your needs as a customer? Would you wonder where the technology is heading that enables Simon to almost "read your thoughts"?
Another scenario: you're in the crowd at a football match at the Gabba, waiting in line to be served with two beers and a lemonade for your six-year-old son. 30 years ago, you were arrested by the police in Perth as a pickpocket. A policeman walks up to you and drags you out of the line and proceeds to go through your pockets, because the facial scan system picked you up and identified your misdemeanour from 30 years ago when you were 12.
What's the difference? Are we talking about a privacy issue? Or are we talking about civil liberties issue? Or are the two so closely linked as to be indistinguishable. The police are using exactly the same technology as Simon. Do you care? Should you care?
Truth be told, most of us get on the Internet and do our searching without really thinking about what our data is being used for. Big Brother watches our searches and whilst I don't suggest you do it, searching Google for "bomb making directions", I think you would find would have some interesting results one morning at 6 AM. Don't believe me? Try it. And let the rest of us know how you go.
Think about what you are doing on the Internet. Think about the value to you of your privacy. Put in place some safeguards - a changed date of birth, a misspelt surname, include or add a middle name, a different street name. Whatever it is, it will make the identification a little bit harder and in so doing protect your privacy just a tiny bit. A privacy cheat sheet is available upon request by e-mail to forum.QCCL@gmail.com.
