Paranoia Strikes Deep 1

Then, of course, there's John Battelle's recent screed in the San Jose Mercury News:

But consider the concentration of information about us that resides with the search companies, or that's accessible using their tools. It goes beyond the database of intentions we create when we click around the Web. Because we are increasingly moving our digital lives from the constraints of the PC to the relatively boundless Web, we also are creating virtual profiles of ourselves. Hundreds of millions of us store our e-mail, photographs, social networks, contact databases and personal journals on the Web, and we are adding to that pile at an extraordinary rate.

Put together the bread crumbs we leave as we navigate the Web with the mountain of personal information we've posted there, and add to that the e-mails we send and receive, and you have an enormous storehouse of data available to the search companies.

So far, we have seen only the initial glimmerings of how search companies use the data we generate when we use their services. The first inkling comes in the form of customized advertising. You've seen the ads along the right side and top of Google -- they are usually extremely relevant to the term you typed into the search box. Why are they so good? Because Google watches what you type and tries to match ads to your stated intent. But what if Google and others knew what you had searched for before, or other sites you had been to, or other purchases you made? Now that's custom advertising.

Could Google and other search companies do such a thing? Of course they could, and they will. If you aren't a registered user with, say, Yahoo, Google, or AOL, your clickstream can be identified only via an ephemeral IP address -- you're just a computer using the Web. But that anonymity changes if you sign up for an account at Google (via its toolbar or mail application) or register with Yahoo -- both steps require you to provide your name and other information to the company.
- Google is watching you, John Battelle

Periodically (and the next one is always worse than the last one), the future of privacy issues intersects with our little world of Recruiting. We (meaning everyone who even touches the industry) make our livings buying, selling, trading, brokering, supporting, or writing about transactions that involve huge amounts of personal data. The question is whether or not we should join in the growing paranoia (as evidenced by the Adcritic simulation).

Already, the global legislation regarding the meaning of privacy is a patchwork quilt of conflicting laws that are the real barrier to entry for the large scale software providers. Varying levels of concern are being expressed around the planet. Where labor is cheap, privacy is an irrelevance. Where the status quo is lofty, privacy is a market dynamic.

Even though we're reasonably sure that Google base is a non-event, the service is producing a wave of conspiracy theory and amplified paranoia. Phishing gangs using Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs as launch points are working their way into the news feeds. Privacy advocates, scoffed at in their initial attempts are getting second and third hearings.

The question is not whether but how much paranoia is justified?

- John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.