Somedayastrangerwillreadyoure-mailwithoutyourpermissionorscanthewebsiteyou’vevisitedorperhapssomeonewillcasuallyglancethroughyourcreditcardpurchasesorcellphonebillstofindoutyourshoppingcallinghabitsI
Somedayastrangerwillreadyoure-mailwithoutyourpermissionorscanthewebsiteyou’vevisitedorperhapssomeonewillcasuallyglancethroughyourcreditcardpurchasesorcellphonebillstofindoutyourshoppingcallinghabits
Infactit’slikelythatsomeofthesethingshavealreadyhappenedtoyou.Whowouldwatchyouwithoutyourpermission?Itmightbeaspouseagirlfriendamarketingcompanyabossacoporacriminal.Whoeveritistheywillseeyouinawayyouneverintendedtobeseen.
Psychologiststellusboundariesarehealthythatit’simportanttorevealyourselfpartlytofriendsfamilyandloversatappropriatetimes.Butfewboundariesremain.Thedigitalbreadcrumbsyouleaveeverywheremakeiteasyforstrangerstoknowwhoyouarewhereyouareandwhatyoulike.InsomecasesasimpleGooglesearchcanrevealwhatyouthink.Likeitornotincreasinglyweliveinaworldwhereyousimplycannotkeepasecret.
Thekeyquestionis:Doesthatmatter?
FormanyAmericanstheanswerapparentlyis“no”.
WhenopinionpollsaskAmericansaboutprivacymostsaytheyareconcernedaboutlosingit.60percentofrespondentssaytheyfeeltheirprivacyis“slippingawayandthatbothersme”.
Butpeoplesayonethinganddoanother.OnlyasmallnumberofAmericanschangeanybehaviorinanefforttopreservetheirprivacy.FewpeopleturndownadiscountattollboothstoavoidusingtheEZ-Passsystemthatcantrackautomobilemovements.PrivacyeconomistAcquistihasrunaseriesofteststhatrevealpeoplewillgiveuppersonalinformationlikesocialsecuritynumbersjusttogettheirhandsona50-cents-offcoupon.Butprivacydoesmatter-atleastsometimes.It’slikehealth:whenyouhaveityoudon’tnoticeit.Onlywhenit’sgonedoyouwishyou’ddonemoretoprotectit.
1.Whatwouldpsychologistsadviseontherelationshipsbetweenfriends?
A.Friendsshouldopentheirheartstoeachother.
B.Friendsshouldalwaysbefaithfultoeachother.
C.Thereshouldbeadistanceevenbetweenfriends.
D.Thereshouldbefewerargumentsbetweenfriends.
2.Whydoestheauthorsay“weliveinaworldwhereyousimplycannotkeepasecret”?
A.Modernsocietyhasfinallydevelopedintoanopensociet