There's Privacy Then There's Privacy

There are two kinds of privacy. Only one is the responsibility of vendors and providers to ensure. The rest is up to you.

Regulations like HIPAA and PCI-DSS are designed to guarantee that providers storing electronic personally identifiable information, or PII in the vernacular, is safeguarded against theft or accidental disclosure. They are not designed to provide consumers with any kind of “social gag” that might alert them they are offering up information or photographs the likes of which they may later regret sharing. While social networking sites like Facebook now provide “privacy” options that allow consumers to control who can see photos and read information posted, it does not force (though it does prompt and encourage occasionally) the use of such controls. That is completely up to the consumer.

Rielle Hunter is extremely upset with the three photographs of herself featured in the latest issue of GQ magazine. The woman who was involved in a months-long affair with Democrat John Edwards told ABC's Barbara Walters Monday she found the images - two of which feature her without pants - "repulsive" and, Hunter also told Walters, she cried for two hours because she felt they were so terrible. […]  When I asked, 'Well if that was the case, why did you pose the way you did?' She said that she trusted Mark Seliger, who she said is a brilliant photographer, and she quote 'went with the flow,'" Walters said on ABC's The View.  -- Hunter upset over GQ photos 

Like Hunter, some people become upset when photos or information they intentionally shared with others through a variety of digital media options become “more” public than perhaps they’d like. Hunter claimed she “trusted” the photographer. Trusted him to what? Not publish photos he was paid to take? Like Hunter, some consumers may claim they “trusted” site X and just “went with the flow.” But again, trusted them to what? Not publish content intentionally provided for that purpose?

Controls such as those offered by Facebook or additional privacy-focused features will not help consumers hell bent on sharing every embarrassing detail of their lives with the public. And it certainly shouldn’t be blamed for the subsequent “exposure” when a consumer decides a particular piece of information or photo has turned out to be a not so good thing to share.