I found the short clip to be indicative of the way privacy is often seen, particularly through the lens of a company that arguably is the gatekeeper of privacy. Privacy, as we discussed in class is fluid, akin to the Elastic Clause of the Constitution. That being said, the part concerning Mr. Schmidt's discussion of privacy shows the double standard involved. As he proceeded to vehemently deny the use of data mining software by Google, a nod to individual privacy, the discussion about China shows both the way Google can act as a conductor of privacy yet also find itself vulnerable to privacy incursions. Even Google falls victim to the problem of privacy, as seen in the Chinese incursion, but it, unlike the majority of us, has much more capacity to protect itself and redefine its privacy, simply by moving its servers to a more friendly milieu such as Hong Kong. Mr. Schmidt reaffirmed the notion that computers don't forget, but I felt the part about services from Google to allow you to see what your aggregate web profile looks like and then target certain things for removal is like Google shooting fish in barrel. How nice of them to offer us assistance to wipe data they've compiled on us and use to make a profit. Of course, 9 out of 10 people (myself admittedly before starting this course) would jump at the opportunity to voluntarily give up more personal information about myself in the hopes of maintaining my own privacy.
In my spare time I am an Adjunct Professor in the Computer Science Department at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. This blog chronicles our class discussion and applies theories of Information Privacy and Security to everyday events.
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I found the short clip to be indicative of the way privacy is often seen, particularly through the lens of a company that arguably is the gatekeeper of privacy. Privacy, as we discussed in class is fluid, akin to the Elastic Clause of the Constitution. That being said, the part concerning Mr. Schmidt's discussion of privacy shows the double standard involved. As he proceeded to vehemently deny the use of data mining software by Google, a nod to individual privacy, the discussion about China shows both the way Google can act as a conductor of privacy yet also find itself vulnerable to privacy incursions. Even Google falls victim to the problem of privacy, as seen in the Chinese incursion, but it, unlike the majority of us, has much more capacity to protect itself and redefine its privacy, simply by moving its servers to a more friendly milieu such as Hong Kong. Mr. Schmidt reaffirmed the notion that computers don't forget, but I felt the part about services from Google to allow you to see what your aggregate web profile looks like and then target certain things for removal is like Google shooting fish in barrel. How nice of them to offer us assistance to wipe data they've compiled on us and use to make a profit. Of course, 9 out of 10 people (myself admittedly before starting this course) would jump at the opportunity to voluntarily give up more personal information about myself in the hopes of maintaining my own privacy.
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