A FEW THOUGHTS ON PRIVACY

Neat, handy.....and necessarily intrusive!

So I was turning on the Genius feature for my iTunes to as it were, "expand my musical horizons" and came across this part of the iTUNES STORE - TERMS AND CONDITIONS, which nobody reads but weird specific people like me. Please breeze through.....

PRIVACY

Except as otherwise stated in this Agreement, the Service is subject to Apple's Privacy Policy at http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.

When you opt in to the Genius feature, Apple will, from time to time, automatically collect information that can be used to identify media in your iTunes library on this computer, such as your play history and playlists. This includes media purchased through iTunes and media obtained from other sources. This information will be stored anonymously and not associated with your name or iTunes Account. When you use the Genius feature, Apple will use this information and the contents of your iTunes library, as well as other information, to give personalized recommendations to you.

Apple may only use this information and combine it with aggregated information from the iTunes libraries of other users who also opt in to this feature, your iTunes Store purchase history data, aggregated purchase history data from other iTunes Store users, and other information obtained from third parties, to:

• Create personalized playlists for you from your iTunes library.

• Provide you with recommendations regarding media and other products and services that you may wish to purchase.

• Provide recommendations regarding products and services to other users.

At all times your information will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Once you opt in to the Genius feature in iTunes, you will be able to create Genius playlists on Genius-capable devices. To enable the Genius feature on a device, you must sync it with your iTunes library after you have opted in.

If you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not enable the Genius feature. You can revoke your opt-in choice at any time by turning off the Genius feature from the Store menu in iTunes on your computer. After you opt out, iTunes will no longer send information about your iTunes library to Apple. If you have elected to share your library from multiple computers, you need to turn off the Genius feature from each computer. The Genius feature cannot be enabled or disabled from your device.

By opting in to the Genius feature, you consent to the use of your information as described above and as described in Apple’s Privacy Policy.

When I finished I begun to wonder, can I really trust Apple Inc with a comprehensive insight into my personal music tastes. This information even includes the 'sources' of my music: crap, Limewire & Transmission are some serious friends of mine. Its of necessity, here in Accra, Ghana, where am I going to find a CD shop that sells reasonably priced CDs - Massa lookee hia, blame Sean Parker not me man. XD

George Orwell's 'original' manuscript in development [src; Wikipedia]

All that aside, I wonder how exactly Apple Inc will benefit from this information. I mean its an exchange, they will give me access to more music that is supposedly similar to my current predilections. In return they will expect me to pay for for the songs they recommend online - sounds fair, right? Question is, will they seriously just store this information about myself and not utilize it further? Will they not provide this information to third parties, either at a price, under duress or for other reasons. I don't know and that bothers me; then I think, why should it there is a lot more information about me on WEB 2.0 already. My Facebook account alone is like a treasure trove of personal information. And then my Gmail account, and my LinkedIn profile, Hotmail, Yahoo, Skype chats, Chrome/Safari/Firefox histories, even all my numerous accounts splattering my digital footprints all over cyberspace. Nineteen Eighty-Four came 20 years late, but it came nonetheless. Seriously, Facebook launched in 2004, chew on that!

Concerns must be analysed and then put in the right perspective. Now I grew up on the internet; or shall I say grew up with the internet. As it has evolved and become an even more invasive and addictive experience, I have come to the simple conclusion that I cannot shy away from this technology so I will embrace it fully. I will figure out its intricacies, its fluid framework and its highly dynamic set of rules and become extremely adept at utilizing it to achieve my own ends. It is _2011 (-93.5hrs) and I would much rather be an Inner Party member than Winston Smith; O'Brien had it far better. After all, I manage what information I would like to put in in the public domain and it appears quite self-evident that the better you manage this information, the better off you will be especially considering this is the Information Age. It is certainly impossible to control who has access to your digital information nowadays. It is so easy to access and share everybody's personal data, pictures especially are taken for granted but are much more revealing. Certainly if you see that flashlight blinking you better give your best pose, because someone might just tag you.


The best way to exploit a system is from the inside. So I am wired in hard, trying to stay ahead of the curve. Many people are just passive, some are reactive, but a few are proactive. Seriously, very proactive. Human beings will increasingly lead more and more of their lives on the internet, so as an early adopter in a rapidly changing landscape do not begrudge me my many Facebook posts, my prim and proper LinkedIn profile or my annoyingly snide emails. It is all part of my online persona, who is not that much different from me in person, just disconnected from the immediacy of the physical.

Anyway my Genius feature is turned on and apparently all 6961 audio files in my iTunes Library can be neatly categorized into 12 playlists. You can trust Jobs & Co to make things so easy. I'm diving in, doublethinking all the way because Big Brother is watching you! :)

Cheers

TheBizmic