We give out way too much information online. You know it, I know it, but it’s fun and we so push the fear out of our minds and continue to chat about our kids, our friends, how annoying so-and-so is at work on Facebook, Twitter and more. But we’ve been conditioned to share, and it’s not a recent evolution.
Supermarket ‘clubs’, like those in place at CVS, Safeway, Publix, and virtually every chain supermarket, save Walmart, already share your data with telemarketers and email marketers. The swipe saves us a few bucks so we agree… Upromise, by Sallie Mae, has already gotten into big trouble with not disclosing the truckloads of data they collect from their toolbar to their users. Still college students add that toolbar and hope for the best. WE SHARE TOO MUCH!
A Mashable post on Data Mining in Social Media digs a little deeper, but still not deep enough. They don’t even mention the new iPhone app that’s being called a ‘stalker’s dream’ nor the freaky 123People that lets you check the government documents that other people have filed (or had filed against them).
I’m big on social media, I love it, but this trend toward over-sharing, both purposefully and unintentionally, frightens me.