COMMENTARY | As the media reports on the growing issue of cell phone providers and social networks tracking user’s personal data, I can only shake my head. Facebook is under fire in Germany, according to Digital Trends, for allegedly tracking member’s data across the web. Verizon, my cell phone provider, has admitted they package their customers’ data to present to third parties.
While there absolutely should be concern with having our information packaged and sold to the highest bidder, only one person is responsible for my security: me.
I don’t have a smartphone and use my cell to make and receive phone calls. I don’t take pictures, I don’t check in everywhere I go and I don’t surf the web with my phone. I’m relatively active on Facebook but I set my security level – and check it occasionally – to a place I’m comfortable with.
So many websites now include a Facebook share button it’s hard to miss them. With very rare exception, I don’t use the share feature. If I see something I think my friends might be interested in, I open Facebook in another window and copy the link. I don’t log in to very many sites just for the purpose of reading the news.
While I certainly could never have anticipated the effect of social networking when I first entered the web in 1997, I realize that all of the information I gather isn’t free. Someone – the advertiser – is paying so that I can read the news, watch videos or get lost in a game of Tetris.
I know that Facebook is using the data I give it in order to place ads that might appeal to me. I see advertisements for relatively local places of interest or political campaigns in my state everywhere I go on the web. I know at the very least my IP address identifies my region when I enter a new site. At my age, I’d much rather see an ad targeted to me than something I have no interest in such as diapers or back-to-school.
I know any time I do register for a service on the Internet, the terms allow the provider to gather information about me. It’s up to me to choose which sites I want to share with and how much information I want to give them. If I’m not comfortable with something, I’m not going to join it.