ASU2003

Stephen Colbert Takes on Google CEO's "Change Your Name" Comments [VIDEO]

So the company who set out to 'Do No Evil', now is suggesting that people will have to change their names in order to escape their 'mistakes'... So, who is going to hire that guy wasted with marker on his face, the girl who did a few porn tapes, or the person who is upset about some past employer...

I saw this happening two weekends ago in Vegas. I am an amateur photographer, and I like taking pictures. But, there is a time to not take pictures. Or at least not to put the pictures on-line.

The next thing I am seeing more and more is websites are requiring you to use your Facebook account to post comments. Now, it will cut down on spam, but I want someplace to be semi-anonymous. And I wouldn't want my friends, employer, or family knowing what I post here on certain topics. And I don't want to have to move to some foreign country, change my name, and live without power to get away from anybody who knows the old me.

Martian

From the linked article:

This strikes me as a bizarre question. Who else would you expect to be responsible?

It's important to note exactly what Mr. Schmidt is signifying here. He's not saying that Google is intentionally destroying your privacy; what he's saying is that the internet is, by it's very nature, a public space. Anything that goes online is available to someone, and most of it is probably available to a lot more people than you intended. The solution (as I've been saying for years now) is not to post anything online unless you're okay with it being publicly available.

Certain organizations are making it more difficult to keep yourself anonymous, with Facebook being a prime target for backlash. Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook, however. If a site requires me to be logged into Facebook before I can use it, I can guarantee it's a site I'll never use. I'm not comfortable with my Facebook presence spreading across the internet, which is why I log out of Facebook after I'm done looking at it (and why my Facebook presence has vastly diminished over recent months, as I've noticed an uptick in this trend).

Honestly, if you're not willing to take responsibility for your own privacy do you really expect a for-profit corporation who explicitly makes almost all of their revenue via targetted advertising to do it for you?

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Plan9

Aah, yes. I remember somebody saying this as a joke back in the days of Usenet: "Nobody is anonymous, not even in ASCII." Or even earlier in grade school when they said, "Don't write anything down you wouldn't want shown to in front of your family." My feeling is that Google and Facebook are data mining like motherfuckers (targeted advertising or something more sinister?) and that there isn't really any real safe place to do email or contact your friends, coworkers, etc. That and I'm really glad I don't post any (really) incriminating pictures of myself on the Web. It's even disgusting how easy it is to find people that try to hide. A little digging on Spock, Spoke, Pipl, etc. and I can find contact info to go with that name and face doing stupid things.

What's the counter argument to this? "I have a right to be anonymous in a public space!"

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Ourcrazymodern?

"If I'm not naked, how can I trust anybody looking at me?"

__________________
BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

ASU2003

When did the Internet ever become a public space? I use it in the privacy of my home or car wardriving. I know the government and companies are increasingly monitoring it. And I'm just wondering when the group of Usenet people, hackers, and Pirate Bay people will say screw the commercial Internet, we will create our own anonymous network.

I mean they have tried with FreeNet and Tor, but they need to create something 'better' and easier to use.

And just because you don't use Facebook, doesn't mean that someone hasn't tagged you in a photo. Then their software might tag you in some other photo or video.

Ourcrazymodern?

ASU2003, what are you worried about?

__________________
BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

ASU2003

I have nothing to hide, and I know the government and company monitor me

The issue is that there is a massive political correctness shift once people know they are being watched & judged (both in real life and on the Internet). Back in the 90s, it was the wild west. Napster & the RIAA tracking people was the first tipping point when it went from being do whatever you want, to your actions may have real life consequences.

My real concern is if Google or Facebook introduces a way to search the web looking for someone's face if you know their name. Not because I have anything to worry about. But because there are millions of naked girls on the Internet. They are fairly anonymous now, or it's like finding a needle in a haystack if you are trying to find a specific one. But if all of a sudden a Google search will bring up a girl's resume, and some nude pics that were taken 5 years ago at some college party, it leads to what the CEO said about changing your name once you reach 25 or so. I mean there is some reason that a lot of hot chicks are willing to get naked, knowing that their pictures and videos will make it to the Internet. I haven't figured it out because it has never happened in my life, but I see plenty of evidence that there are girls out there who are willing to get naked if their real life name isn't associated with it.

I also worry about some of the political and religious criticisms. Most people liked to be liked by their friends and family. And they usually would take the easy path of least resistance when it comes to arguing. On the Internet, you could really say what was on your mind, and it was real. If I have to sign my name on every on-line comment or download (and if my paycheck depends on having certain views), I would have to hold back on what I talk about.

Ourcrazymodern?

Knowing you're being watched & judged doesn't mean if that girl wasn't the victim of clothing manufacturers you might think about her more innocently. Your users acknowledge this by requiring decorum.

__________________
BE JUST AND FEAR NOT