Ignorance is Bliss

Ignorance is bliss...A cliche proudly stated by the few who would rather not know when something goes wrong. My mom's personal version of this cliche is, "Just close your eyes and it'll all go away." These cliches, and several others, can be summed up in the proverbial statement, "What you don't know can't hurt you." Usually when we hear this, we shrug and agree or laugh it off. Of course what we don't know can't hurt us. Or can it?

In an article (beacon security risks) written by a senior research engineer with CA's Anti-Spyware Research team, Facebook's Beacon (the new system to transmit data from affiliate websites to Facebook) security and privacy issues were absolutely torn apart. There are two shocking issues that make this new system uncomfortable for many knowledgeable users: first, that they send the information even when you select to opt out of the data transmission, (Facebook still gets it, but just doesn't publish it) and second, that they do all of this without notifying the user. The secret transmission of data to companies when the user doesn't know about it is certainly becoming more and more of an internet safety issue. Many of the people who use Facebook aren't particularly internet savvy and may not even think about possible safety issues in terms of their data. In fact, even after all the bad publicity about Beacon, I'm sure there are many people out there who are still happily clicking away while sitting in ignorance. Some may complain that these people aren't hurt at all when their data is given to Facebook without their knowledge, but issues like this don't stop with Facebook. They can easily expand and become harmful. For instance, what about when a customer's buying tendencies are unknowingly given out and they become the target of spam advertisements? Or their credit card number is sold? Or their identity is stolen? Ignorance can hurt. And it will if companies continue to take advantage of the innocent and the "innocent" chose to be ignorant.