To wonder why people give out their personal data without a second thought?

[AssignedMentalAtBirth]

Wanted to have a discussion about the data we are putting out there. For example, so much personal information on Facebook, using their own names on twitter, discussing personal preferences, history, political leanings and much more

Having trillions of store cards, giving out their details online to get an extra 10% off etc. Logging into accounts using your Facebook or Google passport seems to be particular reckless

I am very careful with the information I give out. I have no online presence, no store cards, use a cookie blocker etc. You cannot find me using web browsers.

I used to work in data analysis when it was relatively difficult to match data sets from differing sources. Now it is extremely easy. These companies have a huge deal of information on people, then they sell it on, when it is matched with other sources.

What I really fear is the imposition of a national ID card, which can then be associated with all this data. Then it's really Big Brother time

Anyone else think the same? Or am I just paranoid?

You sound really paranoid.

I hope a national ID card is not going to happen ever.

Other than that, I agree with you completely. Anonymity is my preference, of to do another name change

Personally I wouldn't be fussed if we had ID cards. Quite a few other countries have them, and at the moment people without a driving licence or passport have a hard time when they need to provide some photo ID. (In fact I know someone who has no intention of going abroad, but paid for a passport anyway to have a form of ID).

I also don't mind Tesco knowing my shopping habits in exchange for free rail travel. They are really not that exciting.

I don't really use Twitter and don't put too much information on Facebook, and make sure my privacy settings in place. As for web presence, people with unusual names may be easily Googleable; if your name is very common or shared with a celebrity then maybe it is less of a concern. When I last googled my name there was all sorts of random stuff like the minutes of a cycling group meeting I went to in 2002.

I don't mind. I don't have FB or Twitter, and have lots of loyalty cards. I wouldn't mind an ID card either.

You could be paranoid OP or have something to hide?

I think there's a line.

I'm quite happy for organisations to share data about me, if it will improve services for my outcomes.

With the Digital Economy Bill, it's clear some government departments want to ease the fluidity of data sharing between departments.

However, when it negatively impacts or negatively influences an individual making choices about their own care, then I think some further discussions need to be had.

Interesting, if not slightly paranoid, video below.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNJl9EEcsoE

I'm not paranoid but yes I have plenty to hide because none of these companies have any business knowing my business. I do think that people are giving a great deal of their privacy away. It's the cost I wonder about. I read about a psychometric test being developed based on a person's FB likes. That's quite terrifying.

Think - Yes I was delighted when the ID card was dropped. But Labour will pick it up again in a minute if they win. Although, perhaps Jeremy Corbyn has more liberal views on it

I agree. I don't use Facebook, but years ago when I did, I used a fake name.
I have a couple of spare email addresses I signed up to with fake names that i use for things I need to sign up for to get discounts and an unregistered payg sim in an old phone for things like this too. Somebody I know uses those throw away top up credit card things too, so they don't have all this linked to them either.
My name is very uncommon, so I do not like to be Googleable and make an effort to keep my name off things.

After seeing the adverts that face book and google target at me, I think their analysis of data is not as good as you fear. They do not understand me at all.

A tiny bit paranoid but not massively so. I see it professionally and yes, we all have information out there. I try not to be too specific about things online. I accept though that loyalty cards have info about personal habits but mine are pretty bland! I don't login with Facebook and have location services on my phone turned off.
I do oppose ID cards not least because I have had great difficulty fixing errors of spelling that crept in with our old house name! Official documents kept coming back with two letters transposed. It's a pita to sort. Mistakes will happen on ID cards and it may not be visible.

Bagely

Oh wow. Yes, far fetched at the moment but not massively so. We are def going in that direction.

I don't think you're paranoid. Just sensible.

I too wonder at people's insouciance at data about them being collected and used (either for social control or profit) without their explicit knowledge. How could that possibly be a good thing?

I suspect what happens is that people fail to understand what price they're paying for what they get on social media and so on. I'm often told that, such-and-such (What'sapp, Viber, Skype, ...) is 'free'. Free? Look at the value of the firms that 'give' you this stuff; if you think they're doing it for love, well, I have a lovely bridge I'm trying to sell ...

As for the 'if you've nothing to hide ...' national ID brigade: I usually want to drag such people to, for instance, the Stasi Museum in Leipzig. Check out what state surveillance means if you have 'nothing to hide'. 'But we're not a police state ...' How is it possible to be so ignorant of history and its lessons?

Paranoid? No, OP. They are out to get you. Always have been, still are. And even if they weren't, it's clear we shouldn't take the chance. That's a lesson of history we surely need to learn.

Yes toe, it's the Stazi's dream isn't it?

And your browsing history would tell you a great deal about a person. I also use DuckDuckGo browser because they don't track you

Anyone watched or read 'The Circle'?

Agree about the problem of mistakes with ID cards. Will be worse if they start having a DNA or other biometric database. It's being done by stealth, with the biometric gates at airports, biometric details on passports etc. If they get these things wrong, and PLENTY can go wrong with database and accuracy, then it could cause massive problems for people.

Not to mention the risk of hacking this data. And everything is hackable

Companies/authorities having an individual's data is all well and good in a state where human rights and civil liberties are safe. It's for marketing and promotion purposes, mainly.

However, there may come a time when information about my being, for example, gay/Jewish/left-wing may place me in danger.

There may also come a time when information from FitBits etc. may be sold on to insurance companies, affecting the price of policies and even the likelihood of getting one.

Thin end of the wedge.

The thing about people giving away their data all the time....usually it is the same six or seven pieces of data.
I generally assume that some basic information about me is already "out there" (like my address being on the electoral register, and my landline being in the telephone directory) so I don't worry too much about trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. With other things the benefit to me of eg: giving out my email address is far more likely to outweigh the harm of a malevolent agent finding it out, especially as I'm not a celebrity or a spy.

I am very careful with the information I give out. I have no online presence, no store cards, use a cookie blocker etc. You cannot find me using web browsers

I'm the opposite and mainly couldn't care less about giving out my information. I have a pretty average social media presence. Decent amount of store cards. Enter a few competitions here and there with my email address and so on.

What should I be terrified of?

Does anyone use Google maps? If you go to your timeline then you'll find it's been tracking your movements of its own accord without being told to.

Yes shox I was so surprised one day when looking on Google maps and it actually had "work" and "home" without me telling it those places were work and home. It just knew because of the times I go I guess. I turned all permissions off.

I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle on this one. I don't use my real name on social media, and don't post pictures of myself either. I'd never log into something else with Google or FB, and not only because I don't have FB. But I'm aware that sometimes it's easy to be too complacent about who gets to see my email address, for instance.

I see lots of people using their own names, pictures and DOB talking about work and personal matters in great detail. They think they're having a whinge to friends but their profiles are public and anyone mildly curious about them could find them really quickly. That worries me a lot for their sake, but maybe I choose the wrong things to fret about.

Yeah it has work and home but also knows all the routes you've taken and anywhere else you've been as well in the timeline. Weird.

I am very careful with the information I give out. I have no online presence, no store cards, use a cookie blocker etc. You cannot find me using web browsers

I get the need not to divulge personal data which could be used to defraud (or blackmail if you have such secrets!) but your paranoia is probably having a more detrimental impact on your quality of life than any targeted advert some computer algorithm has generated based on your search history!

I understand completely. My husband is barely on FB, doesn't have any personal details online. Never signs up for store cards and also uses a cookie blocker. He's doing a degree in software engineering and he's very worried. He's very much into the internet privacy, government snooping. It doesn't matter if you have nothing to hide, why give away all of your information, for it to then be used against you? History has shown that the government will monitor and review certain people that they find to be enemies of the state, and they get help from companies that take your information. Even just ignoring the Holocaust, there's also the examples of the Civil Rights movement in the US. The US government was following and actively spying on Americans who dared protest against Jim Crow laws. Sometimes those people disappeared or were found dead/arrested in strange circumstances. They had a spying file on MLK. They had files on Vietnam protesters, and were using the local police to intimidate them into stopping their activities.

With the internet, we're just going to make it easier for them to continue to do this. The problem is that the government decides who is the enemy, depending on the politics of the time, even if those people are peace going who just want to exercise their right to protest and first amendment. This is a problem with our democracies if we just let them do this. It could influence our future voting behaviour, or have them find a way to make sure we're unable to vote/participate at all. I'm not paranoid, the West has a history of doing this.

Quite a few EU countries have ID cards, I wouldn't be fussed either way.

Having no online presence at all seems to me like incredibly hard work in this day and age. I do try to be moderately careful about my data, but ultimately I don't lose sleep over it.

And coconut it is possible to have an excellent quality of life without giving away all of your information. I don't see how one is connected to the other.

Though I don't agree with a national ID card (civil liberties etc. etc.) I find it laughable that there was so much anti-ID-card noise, and yet everyone will more than happily pay Apple £900 to carry a phone, at almost all times, and often contains their:

Bank details
Online shopping apps
Emails
And their BLOODY THUMBPRINT

It seems a bit silly to me.