Privacy? What’s that?

In a world full of social media and all things digital, our information is available to everyone. Tracking cookies know what we search for and advertise those specific products to us. Facebook knows when we’re shopping for wedding dresses or baby car seats.

As Don Tapscott says in a post on HuffPost’s The Blog, “Allowed to flourish, new media technologies offer the promise for societies to be better informed, more open and more successful than their industrial age counterparts. People in many parts of the world have unprecedented access to data, information and knowledge.”

But how far is too far? We’ve all heard of employers asking applicants for Facebook passwords. I don’t think an employer has any need for a Facebook password or the password to any account that I have. A new law (Assembly Bill 25) has been signed in California prohibiting employers and universities from asking applicants for their social media passwords. In addition to California, this law has now been passed in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey.

As I mentioned above, I wouldn’t be keen on handing over the password to my social media accounts. However, I don’t mind personalized ads that show up on websites I visit. It makes sense to advertise products that I would be interested in. It’s a waste of money for the marketer and time for me if I’m constantly shown ads for products that I have no interest in.