We Don't Care About Privacy Because We're Too Smart

Over the years I've seen a number of articles and speakers talk about how young people don't read the terms of service and I don't fully understand how much privacy we're giving up by using Facebook/Google/etc. They always say that we don't fully understand what we're signing up for. I think it's actually a completely different reason why we don't care to read the terms. We don't care about our "privacy" because we're smart enough and versed in online culture enough to know not to put anything too personal on public sites. We're one of the first few generations that has had complete access to the Internet basically since birth. We were taught how to use computers at a very early age, so it's no surprise that we understand them much better than the older generations. We don't fall for things like "put your social security number in to win a million dollars!" or "I am a Nigerian prince who wants to make you rich." We're not stupid.

It's always labeled as a lack of caring, but it's not that at all. If we have nothing to hide (online) then why would we worry who has access to our nothingness? That's not to say we're totally cool with any company having access to our most basic information. Of course I don't want Facebook to sell my information to some corporation so they know how to market to me. But if we really are bothered by these practices it's easy to deny access to them. I typically don't even put my real name on any social media platform, simply because I don't like the idea that anyone can google me and have access to my personal thoughts. As we progress into a more technological society it's no surprise that companies will have more and more access to our information. I'm personally curious to see how the world will react to this issue once Apple has all of our faces scanned and Google knows which way we take to school in the morning.