The Slow Boil of Privacy Erosion
As the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone personal tracking database brouhaha rolls on, it's becoming increasingly clear that Apple isn't exactly tracking iPhones -- though there are many shades of gray -- and that reactions to the idea or practice of tracking has a surprisingly wide range of feeling.
Some seem to think that having their iPhones track their locations is cool, like a personal journal, while others see it as just another way for big brother to watch over our shoulders and help put down the uprising when the distribution of wealth becomes untenable for an open society to thrive. Then there's already a new lawsuit against Apple in Tampa for violating customer Reach More Customers with Live Chat - Free Whitepaper privacy, and there's a decent chance we'll see some profit-hungry lawyers launch a class-action suit. Plus, our senators are getting involved by sending along some invitations to Apple for a question-and-answer session.
As near as I can tell, despite the alarmist television news spots and massive online and blog coverage of the topic, most people don't seem to care. And even though the iPhone is a highly personal device, held or carried during most waking hours, the privacy issues with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Buzz a while back seemed to generate more serious public frothing-at-the-mouth action.
