Data Privacy Day
by VPNHaus | 01/28/2009 | Posts
According to Intel, today is Data Privacy Day. From their website:
Designed to raise awareness and generate discussion about data privacy practices and rights, Data Privacy Day activities in the United States have included privacy professionals, corporations, government officials, and representatives, academics, and students across the country.
One of the primary goals of Data Privacy Day is to promote privacy awareness and education among teens across the United States. Data Privacy Day also serves the important purpose of furthering international collaboration and cooperation around privacy issues.
Shouldn't every day be data privacy day, however? Martin McKeay supports the day of observation, because it calls people (especially younger ones) to question their own willingness to keep personal data public:
[...] most people are willing to give up even the illusion of privacy if you offer them a candy bar or a shiny new widget for their desktop. I’ve come to realize that privacy is about the government and corporations keeping their nose out of our business, but we also have a responsibility to monitor what we’re making available for public consumption about ourselves. This is the part of the equation most people forget to think about.
What do you think? Is this observance really necessary? Will the younger Internet users it targets benefit from the education? Is our willingly reduced privacy online actually indicative of a lack of knowledge surrounding privacy, or does it represent an unavoidable and sweeping change in our culture's thinking about personal data?