Plutonian Striptease is a series of interviews with experts, owners, users, fans and haters of social media, to map the different views on this topic, outside the existing discussions surrounding privacy.
Employee of a social games company wishes to remain anonymous.
Social networks are often in the news, why do you think this is?
It’s new, there are new biz possibilities, media is interested in money and success stories.
In what way do they differ from older forms of communication on the Internet?
A huge amount of private data from users is available to be used in many ways.
Who is ultimately responsible for what happens to the data you upload to social networks?
Heh heh. The network should be, but I doubt that the systems will ever be very secure. So in reality: the user has the responsibility to think carefully what to upload.
Do you read Terms of Use or EULA’s and keep up to date about changes applied to them?
I am a normal human being. I never do.
Do you think you’ve got a realistic idea about the quantity of information that is out there about you?
Not really.
How do you value your private information now? Do you think anything can happen that will make you value it differently in the future?
I do value my private information and I try to keep just necessary information available. And I don’t want to share any radical thoughts on social networks.
How do you feel about trading your personal information for online services?
It’s ok. But I am willing to share just the minimum amount of real information or I may even use a fake account.
What do you think the information gathered is used for?
Mostly for targeted marketing. Shortly, to make money.
Have you ever been in a situation where sharing information online made you uncomfortable? If so, can you describe the situation?
It’s a typical story. You comment something with wrong words, soon you regret it. So the simple rule is to think twice before posting/sharing/commenting.
What is the worst case scenario, and what impact would that have on an individual?
I’d guess that a very common one is to have problems at work by commenting company strategy or criticizing a superior. In the long run the worst scenario is that there is a lot of wrong or bad information on you and you will never be able to remove that data. It may ruin your life and reputation totally.
Nowadays, most of the “reading” of what is written online is done by machines. Does this impact your idea of what is anonymity and privacy?
Actually yes. It makes me feel that it doesn’t matter much what information I leave behind, which is, of course stupid.
Can a game raise issues such as online privacy? And if so, what would you like to see in such a game?
Games on social networks can easily demonstrate how games can access private information, and how easily users give permission to do so. A game could e.g. reveal texts and photos from user’s profiles. “Click the button x times to reveal a secret” – “share the secret with your friends, earn experience and level up by spreading gossips.”
Tags: anonymity, privacy, responsibility, self censorship, social networks, targeted advertisement