The Privacy Discussion Is Heating Up

Internet privacy issues are getting more and more attention. Frankly, I think we're getting past the point where the only big risk is loss of liberty. More and more, the risk of an excessive backlash is upon us as well. (In the medical area, I'd say it's already more than a risk -- it's a life-wrecking reality. But now the problem is poised to become wider-spread.)

• For several months, the Wall Street Journal has offered high-profile stories on internet privacy risks.
• Slashdot points to a quick but fascinating survey of incipient privacy legislation in the US, which in turn even finds a proposed web analytics code of ethics.
• In general, Slashdot's Your Rights Online section is a rich source of information about liberty/privacy issues.
• The UK government again wants to store complete traffic information about email, website visits, and more.
• There have been several articles and papers on inferring people's sexual preferences on social networks.
  • The New York Times reports on studies suggesting you can identify a Facebook users' sexual preference from what they say in their profiles (duh), and also from whether or not they ever respond to ads that would only be of interest to gays.
  • The research further suggests that ads are indeed being targeted by sexual preference -- e.g., gay males are presumed to be more interested than straight ones in nursing careers.
  • MIT researchers, meanwhile, infer sexual preference from who your friends are.
• GigaOm reports that RapLeaf is associating profile information with your e-mail address and supplying that to consumer marketers. Edit: A lot more detail has come out about RapLeaf.
• And as I just recently noted, one venture capitalist gets it.