http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/technology/google-privacy-inquiries-get-little-cooperation.html?pagewanted=1&hp&gwh=77883A123200D8E57071F073AF98EBEA
Privacy is treated very differently in the US vs Europe. I figured anyone that reads this already knew that. But it's still interesting to learn about. There's been some recent hubbub regarding Google and their cars and the information they have supposedly been gathering (well, it's not so supposed...).
So it got me to thinkin' about privacy, how much it has changed in the last 20 years, how willingly we give it up. It's definitely tied to the generations who have grown up with technology- I have 18-19 year old cousins who are much more willing to give up certain aspects of their privacy than me- look at what a difference even 10 years makes.
The thought has also crossed my mind about the Patriot Act. Would todays college aged students have been as up in arms as I was when that was passed? Could it be because they feel (whether rightly or not) that they are not threatened? Obviously when someone doesn't feel threatened they are more willing to give up privacy rights (Shout out to Facebook- holla!).
Could Europe's handling of privacy be tied to their history? Nazis, Communists, totalitarian regimes loved breaching privacy to get what they wanted. Ends justifies the means- right, Machiavelli? We have this innate ability of sweeping hard parts of our past under the rug here in the US. Could be because of how we teach or don't teach history...but that's a whole other can of worms.
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