Tag Archives: privacy

How Much of Yourself Should You Share Online?

Posted on by

awesome cat picturesWe live in the era of information overload. People share everything from what they eat, to pictures of their children. But how much should we share online? As a writer I have to share my experiences. Well, to be a good writer anyway. But when you write an article and it goes out into the world it is not always possible to bring it back. Nor is is possible to control who reads it, or what that person does with that information. And there is the problem. I feel we are too trusting when we are throwing information out on to the internet. I believe most people are good, but not all are.

I am not talking about criminals, although we should definitely be watching out for those. Those type of bad people are why I am careful about what I post about my children online. No, I am talking about something marginally more benign: people you know. I remember I wrote an article many years ago on the media and how they report fertility, only for some people to somehow find it and use the article in a mean and bitchy way for years. This made me very sad and is one of the reasons I stopped writing as much. Then I realised the bullies were winning, so I wrote more, but was still cautious. Hard to know whether that is a good or bad thing.

In real life I am a very open person. I will talk to most people about anything. Well, except sex or money. There has to be some limits. But the truth is: there are horrible people out there that will take your words and use them against you. There are also employers who might not like what they see on social media and decide to not hire you.

So what do I do as a writer? Should I continue to share my life, or should I stop and find other things to write about? I have not decided what is best yet. I will continue to share my personal experience, but I will be wary and think about the consequences. Mostly I will write about things I think will help other people or make them laugh. I believe that human beings have a desperate need to connect with each other, to hear each other’s stories, to know they are not alone. That is what is most important to me. Sharing and connecting with my fellow human beings.

Please share your thoughts below.

Are The Good Times Really Over For Good?

Posted on by

For someone in their twenties it is hard to think of a time which has been harder economically than right now. But I do know that this is not true. There have been many booms and busts before, times much harder than this. Rationing, world wars, the great depression.

But what of the future? My generation seems to have gotten the muddy end of the stick. The OECD, a respected British think tank, said that Britain has slipped into a double dip recession and more pupils than ever are getting free school meals, the governments indicator of a child growing up in poverty. Tube drivers might be raking it in, getting paid £500 just to show up for work each day during the Olympics, but the rest of us are struggling.

Are the good times really over?We have become generation rent, unemployment is high, we not only have a harder time getting our dream job, but getting any job at all. I have friends that are moving out of West London where I live because they cannot afford it, struggling to find jobs and even if they have one, struggling to survive the squeeze.

Not getting to the nitty gritty. Tuition fees are up to a staggering amount, 9K a year for an education, transport costs go up above inflation every year; the Oyster caps at £10 per day in London. Then there is the fact that if you get an unpaid internship these days you are one of the lucky ones. It seems everyone is taking everything from the young. I am luckier than most. My education days are behind me and so are my internships: but if the children really are the future, then what of it? Are the good times really over for good? Everything from stamps and food is going up. Petrol is so expensive people cannot even get to work and the government is looking shifty after the cash-for-access scandal. Never mind the fact we don’t have any privacy anymore and they are trying to bring in web-monitoring.

Government debt is at a £988.7 billion. And who is going to have to pay that off? The decent, hard working people of Britain. Oh well. We can always print some more money.

What good will come from this? Lessons maybe. We lived in a society that saw the word ‘credit’ and did not take in the fact that actually means ‘debt’. Above all we will do what the British do: keep calm and carry on. You may want to cross your fingers too.

 

Cameron’s Fatal Blunder Over Web Monitoring

Posted on by

It has been a calamitous few weeks for the PM with his and his parties poll numbers falling through the floor. The only saving grace is that the other parties and their leaders are disliked just as much.

The debacle over jerry cans and the budget has been bad enough but it is the issue of civil liberties that has permanently damaged the PM.

One can only wonder as to why Tory strategists weren’t running around in panic when the crazy idea of ‘web and email monitoring was raised’. What where they thinking? How was the PM’s finger so off the political pulse? Cameron compounded the error by publicly coming out and defending the policy, a fatal misjudgement.

Has he been blind to Ron Paul movement in the US? Did he not see the response to SOPA? It was the NO2ID movement which did so much damage to the Labour party. And it was the brave actions of David Davis (who would  now be home secretary had he not sacrificed his career)  and the subsequent Conservative plan to abolish ID cards which brought so many over to the conservatives at the last election.

They should have learnt. YOU DO NOT PISS OFF THE INTERNET IF YOU WANT TO WIN ELECTIONS. No one understands this better than Obama and his strategists. This is why he ditched his support for SOPA. Already the government is facing a backlash from ‘Anonymous’ who have been launching attacks on the Home Office website, although it would be a mistake to think that theses extremists are the problem.

One can only conclude that Tory HQ thought this policy would further damage the Lib Dems. It has certainly achieved this. But this in itself doesn’t make a huge amount of sense as Cameron has tried so hard previously to placate his coalition partners.

But if they thought this was an issue which was only important to Lib Dems they have severely miscalculated. This is a policy which many conservatives feel is fundamentally un-conservative. A further unnecessary intrusion of the state in our lives. Cameron should know that these neo con policies have very little support on this side of the Atlantic.

As a result the Conservative party has only succeeded in splitting itself. Prominent members such as Mog, Raab, Davis and Goldsmith have come out in furious opposition.

Once again the Tories have been tarnished as the nasty party. The painstaking re branding has been ruined. This decision may well be the one which costs Cameron the next election.