If You’re Worried, Stay Offline
Jim Harper is the director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, the webmaster of WashingtonWatch.com and the author of “Identity Crisis: How Identification is Overused and Misunderstood.”
If consumers have privacy worries, they can simply decline to use social networks like Facebook, and many do. Facebook takes it in the wallet when a user signs off, or when a potential user fails to sign on.
Government officials lack the information needed to resolve the tensions among privacy, convenience, security and all the other interests people pursue online.
This gives it the incentives it needs to tune its privacy settings consistent with public demand. Politicians and regulators should keep out of the negotiations between Facebook and the public, and focus on getting their own house in order first.
In fact, it’s ironic that Senator Schumer is taking aim at Facebook. He’s the chief sponsor of a proposal to create a national I.D. system that would be required for all workers — and eventually, no doubt, for all Americans.
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A national I.D. goes far beyond embarrassing party photos online. It would place digital copies of basic documents like birth certificates, fingerprints or other biometrics in a national identity database available to government officials — and hackers. Under Schumer’s plan, consumers would not be able to refuse to show the national I.D. card simply because of privacy worries.
It’s not just hypocrisy that should warn government officials from tackling online privacy. They simply lack the information needed to resolve the tensions among privacy, publicity, convenience, security, entertainment, interaction, and all the other interests people pursue online.
Until there’s an all-seeing Ministry of Culture and Values in the federal government, we need the push and pull of the market to figure out these problems.
Control of personal information starts with control of oneself. If you don’t want people to know something, shut your mouth. And if you don’t want information about you on social networks, not using social networks is a good start. (Yes, it is possible to live an entirely fulfilling life without them.) Privacy is a product of personal responsibility. It won’t be a gift from government.
