To interact with this page you must login.
Signup
Compesh is a question and answer (and debate) website, so before you make a debate, you better learn what an assertion is. I suppose you already know what a question is, and that you've typed it in the box. ;)
An assertion, is basically a statement you can make, that is either true or false.
Richer people have better health.
The question for that would be, Do richer people have better health?
And don't forget to make your assertion, match your question.
society
It would be foolish not to be sceptical about the way companies could handle our data. We should be fearful, though there isn't anything to be sceptical about at the moment.
In 2006, the UK wanted to make national ID cards for every citizen. They would have all sorts of records on it such as NHS records, Electoral Roll etc. They made the system optional, and very few people signed up. They then made it mandatory and there was a public outcry. The US government probably wanted such systems as well. Basically the governments wanted to know what you were doing, and where you are, at any time.
Fast forward one year, and the governments get their wish. How? Via the smartphone. 2007 is when the iPhone came out, and 2008 is when Android came out.
Did you know that Facebook is funded by people who are affiliated with CIA and the FBI? Facebook's terms of use warrants them rights without prior notice to access your personal data. A friend on my Facebook got their account temporarily banned for receiving too many friend requests. He's a musician. Even Facebook Places is a good way of tracking locations more accurately.
When the UK riots happened in August, I got sponsored polls asking me whether I was happy with the current government's track record to date, and how far I lived from Birmingham (where the riots were). I got 3 of those polls.
Nowadays, people have their whole life on their smartphone. They've got their Facebook on it, their contact details, address book, payment details. Smartphones also blast out your location at all times.
What companies are realising, is that there is something more profitable than products and services itself, and that's your identity!
Right now the UK government is making a universal login solution for their websites. They're refusing to use Facebook Connect because of privacy restrictions. What that means is that they want to own more of your identity.
It's true that sharing is a good thing, and that Facebook is getting people to share more publicly and be more connected. But what people also have to realise is that companies are battling to own your identity.
Eric Smidt says that his Google is an identity service [to provide you with more relevant advertising].
Google is good at serving behaviourally targeted adverts, but not demographically targeted adverts.
Google (search) is good at serving adverts for things you want to buy, but not for the biggest news story in the world (9/11 memorial, terrorism in Norway). Google is not allowed access to Facebook's data, so by Google harvesting your likes, they can provide demographic adverts in the times they can't provide you adverts for behaviourally targeted adverts.
Given that Google is anti-competitive and that their advertising system is exploitative, who would you trust more with your information, Google or Facebook?
America also has the Patriot Act coming soon which will give America the legal right to block domains without a prior trial, wiretapping of anyone using internet or mobile protocols without a prior or viable reason, and other such stuff which is against the Human Rights Conventions.
Companies and governments are trying to be in possession of your identity. It hasn't happened yet, but it's planned to happen. Right now, all they have is information about your identity. They don't own your identity. Facebook however owns your identity, but the fact that Facebook Connect easily allows people to export their information, shows how nice Facebook is being with your data.