It is absolutely astonishing to me to see what some people will produce on the Internet.  YouTube, Google Video and Facebook are but a few examples.  People are posting stuff to their sites without a care in the world for their privacy.  It is now more the "Me" Generation than it has ever been.  Fifteen minutes of fame forever captured on the back-end by some ISP's server.  And fame does have its price.

Recently, Viacom has sued Google over copyright infringements for videos that have been posted on YouTube.  The latest results are that Google must turn over to Viacom the usernames and IP addresses of users who have viewed these videos (see story here).  Google, in response, has updated their services to include a privacy statement of sorts.  The reason?  According to Brian Kraemer's blog at crn.com:

...it does appear that Google realizes that holding as much private information as they do -- often to the chagrin of users -- does pose a risk to people using the search engine and the other services they offer.

And it took a $1 billion (USD) lawsuit to figure this out? 

Nevermind about the average home-user of Google and YouTube.  What about these other services that Google is offering?  Gmail is one of the most popular on-line email applications around.  Many small companies use Gmail as their business email system.  What privacy are they ensured?  Furthermore, would you trust Google with your personal health information (which includes private information about you-- things like address, social security number and so on)?  Well, thanks to Google Health, you can place all of your medical history in one easily accessible place!  And, since Google is not a health provider per se, they are not constrained by certain health industry regulations like HIPAA for example.

The penchant for storing vast amounts of personally identifiable information without regulation is incredible.  According to the USDOJ: National Criminal Justice Reference Service, in 2004*:

• In 2004, 3.6 million households, representing 3% of the households in the United States, discovered that at least one member of the household had been the victim of identity theft during the previous six months. 
• Households headed by persons age 18-24, those in urban or suburban areas, and those in the highest income bracket ($75,000 or more) were the most likely to experience identity theft.  Victimization did not differ by race or ethnicity.
• 3 in 10 households experiencing any type of identity theft discovered it by missing money or noticing unfamiliar charges on an account; almost 1 in 4 were contacted about late or unpaid bills.
• About two-thirds of households experiencing identity theft reported some type of a monetary loss as a result of theft.  The average loss was $1,290. Some households for which misuse was still ongoing at the time of the interview may have continued to suffer losses.
• About 1 in 6 victimized households had to pay higher interest rates as the result of identity theft, and 1 in 9 households were denied phone or utility service. Households were equally likely to be turned down for insurance or pay higher rates, be the subject of a civil suit or judgment, or be the subject of a criminal investigation (7%, 5%, and 4%, respectively).

Email, phishing and other scams notwithstanding, do we really need to make things easier for nefarious people to steal everything we own and destroy our lives?  YouTube was created in 2005, a year after the DOJ statistics cited above-- how much higher must these incidents be by now?

Protect and educate yourself in your online browsing habits.  The DOJ has a website dedicated to protecting yourself from identity theft, which you can find here.  Think before you post or send that email.  Decide whether or not the entire Internet really needs to see those videos of your birthday party.  Fifteen minutes of fame for the potential lifetime of regret?  Is the price really worth it?

After this Viacom/Google battle, where does it end?  The RIAA is subpoenaing ISPs for their customers and IP addresses so that they can take legal action against copyright violators.  When it comes down to it, are you ready for the Internet police to come knocking at your door?


*Findings, as published in the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publication, Identity Theft, 2004 (2006), represent 6-month prevalence estimates and are drawn from interviews conducted from July to December 2004.