First off a disclaimer….a lot of the following ideas I am sure have been thought of and I am not claiming them to be original. However I can’t find decent references to stipulate where these thoughts have come from so if anyone out there can please let me know! I will be in your eternal gratitude.
Solution number 1 – Make privacy less private
In short public education and debate. Privacy and security on the internet is now so important to everyone’s life and well being that it should become part of the national curriculum with the material pooled together not by academia but by the IAB or another industry body which has a closer touch with what is relevant today. As well as specific courses within schools online resources should be made available and publicised to help the adult generation develop the necessary skill set. For example a series of educational programmes could be stored on iPlayer or YouTube with a supporting site with wiki advice and help pages allowing people to ask questions and get answers.
Topics should range from how to set up your privacy settings for popular sites to dealing with bullying on the net. It should bridge the gap between IT technical skills with social and personal skills looking to equip people with what are now essential life skills.
With a bit of luck this is already happening within schools however to me there doesn’t appear to be a strong enough united voice from an organised body whose mandate is to educate. I am sure key internet brands would be keen to join such groups and benefit not only from the PR but also the more engaged user base who are better educated in the application of their tools.
Everyone will have different views on what they are comfortable with sharing. We therefore need to be informed so we are empowered to set our own boundaries rather than being blissfully unaware that you can’t eat all cookies and everyone means anyone. Indeed failure to educate could lead to internet bigotry and scaremongering from those that want you to believe that the world will end tomorrow. As I am sure Gordon Brown will tell you education is the best form of defence against bigotry.
Solution number 2 – An online bodyguard.
I believe there is an opportunity in the market for some kind of third party privacy controller. Some kind of app or better a widget within a browser which you can log into and control you privacy settings for multiple online entities. In other words a one stop shop which would allow you to change settings across Facebook, Google, MySpace MSN, etc….
A kind of personal bodyguard for the internet if you like. Looking after your every move and helping you get into websites with a password manager, protect you from thugs with enhanced virus protection and ultimately help you control who gets access to your data. A loyal servant fighting to stop strangers looking at you funny if you will.
The reclaimprivacy.org bookmark dramatically helped me adjust my Facebook privacy settings and unearthed a load of stuff that I didn’t realise I was sharing. That’s despite me a few weeks ago going through all my settings and adjusting them. It really opened my eye to how even when you think you get it, you still might not. More recently I’ve been investigating my Google profile and sharing settings and if I am honest I am thoroughly confused. A 3rd party tool which is designed to empower users to take control of their privacy by making it simple to be consistent across different sites would really help give privacy control back to the user.
It could even include a basic online reputation report giving you a top line indication of what you have shared on the internet and what is being said. Indeed this could be how the tool is financed; a kind of Experian Credit report but for your data.
Of course me saying wouldn’t it be great if… is easy. There are numerous barriers to some and all of the above with the biggest being trying to get a consensus from the multiple stakeholders to work together however we are seeing positive signs. Facebook’s revised privacy changes certainly are similar to the key points of option 2. Google’s Opt Out for Analytics is further empowering the user. Indeed I think the common theme of being more open and upfront about privacy controls will be a necessity to solving this privacy conundrum. The solution has to be focused on making it easy for users to understand how their data is being used and how they can control their data……it is theirs after all!
UPDATE: OK so I have found a source/someone who buys into similar thoughts on privacy. Whilst reading Jonathon McDonalds thoughts on the future of mobile his last point struck me as reaching a similar conclusion to my above post….education is a key lever to giving control.
