Privacy in the Age of Social Media

“Historically, privacy was almost implicit, because it was hard to find and gather information. But in the digital world, whether it’s digital cameras or satellites or just what you click on, we need to have more explicit rules – not just for governments but for private companies.”

Bill Gates

With any new technology that develops comes a new set of “guiding” rules to be implemented. Whilst Social Media was in its infancy there were no ground rules. How do you define the do’s and don’t when there hasn’t been any precedent? And let’s not forget this new development was first established outside of the usual business environment. People wanted to connect with old acquaintances and long-lost friends; the business application came later. Social Capital was the ultimate goal, networking amongst these people would expand your own limited social environment and increase prospective work and personal challenges.

But as technology does, the business world saw the potential and adopted Social Media. Thus creating the need to set boundaries for its employees. Big companies have policies in place that not only refer to Social Media but any device usage within the workplace. Especially if the hardware is provided by the company! This can go as far as restricting current or former employees of disgruntledly posting online about the company and causing uproar (not to mention a nightmare for the PR department). No company would take defamation of any means with open arms and would obviously seek to be avoided if possible. So covering their bases while hiring new personnel is essential.

To trust or not to trust, that is the question.

Should employees trust their employers and vice-versa? On week 5, we’ve addressed the issue of transparency between the government and its citizens. In the business world, things aren’t so different. Patents and copyright protect intellectual property but sometimes leaks will come from within (to the dismay of the executive team). It’s important to find a balance.

What information is sensitive and which ones can be released to the public? Open source is starting to become the norm amongst lots of big software developers. And yet, privacy is a sore topic for lots of people. As proved by the St. Bernardino Case (FBI vs Apple Inc.) the repercussion could be catastrophic for the individuals right to privacy by setting a precedence for any government in the World who requires a device to be decrypted. Whether their reasoning and cause is justified for the greater good or not can be questioned. As the saying goes, “your rights end where mine begins.”

Social Media has given the consumer the possibility to be outspoken about their thoughts with the rest of the world and companies have the power to answer to these queries in real time. More and more business websites are implementing the pop-up chat option to help their customers right from the get go. Who wants to write an email or wait on the phone for hours when there’s someone already there ready to help? This is definitely an advantage in today’s connected world.

On the other side of the scale, anyone that has read George Orwell’s “1984” would know, how dreaded the “Big Brother” premise is. And there are already eyes everywhere. Watch “Eye In The Sky” with Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman, for an internal moral tug of war and to check the surveillance technology out there (though its accuracy can be questioned as it’s a movie). Regardless, you’ll leave the theatre with a sense of being watched… constantly.

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