Privacy

Privacy is a very big deal in today's day and age. With many large companies tracking ones' personal and private information such as Facebook and Google, data leaks can lead to disasters. Facebook uses the data you input about yourself as well as your friends to create personalized ads. This is fine, if the data weren't stored and shared to multiple data sharing companies. Google does the same, as well. It is almost unfair to users since many do not read the fine print when agreeing to terms & conditions or do not understand the implications and potential consequences to data sharing and storage. Granted, there are ways to limit data collection by opting-out of certain services that these companies use, but many are unaware of how to do so. A better method, suggested by Joe Nocera of the New York Times, indicates that users should be "opting in instead of opting out. This would also likely force companies to explain to their customers why they need the data and what they will use it for, which is another thing that should be included in any privacy bill." At least this way, users would recognize what information they are giving and choose to accept it or not. Although data sharing and collection has its benefits for these large corporations in generating more revenue (and sometimes even benefiting those that use these services in order so that these sites "understand" the individuals likes and preferences, which lead to increased amount of relevant suggestions, such as the case with Google Maps, in which the service informs the user of places recently visited or most frequently visited), it is still not without its concerns, as unintentional leaks can lead to major issues in the present and/or future.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/opinion/nocera-the-wild-west-of-privacy.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=2