Information Professionals Don’t Care About Privacy, deux
2. Asking for consent and offering choices for participation.
Nika talked about the difference between getting informed consent before submitting personal information as opposed to making users wallow through a privacy statement written in legalese that nobody wants to read. A second stage of user consent should occur before transferring any personal information or making it available to others. The highest level of privacy and protection should be the default for personal information when a user signs up for a service. There should also be an easy to find opt-out function that the user can use at any time. Opting out should result in all previous actions and previously submitted information being deleted.
3. Offering granular levels of control
Offering granular levels of control means that the user can find and change their privacy settings and personal information at any time and for any reason. Good usability should also provide a preview of what the information will look like to others before saving information. Users should also be able to delete or restrict access to information at any time (ex: who do you want to see this information? Everyone? Your network? Your friends? Only you?)
This was a really interesting discussion about an issue that isn’t being discussed enough in the current information technology environment. I thought Nika was brilliant and articulate, as were the members of the audience who shared many insightful comments. I can use this information to educate my patrons and computer class students on ways their information might be used on social software sites, and how to share an online identity without sacrificing too much privacy or revealing information about yourself that might be used inappropriately by those with bad intentions.
Next up: I co-facilitate a discussion about tech literacy with my friend Sam Wallin from the Fort Vancouver Public Library system.
