The Times of an Information Explosion

There is no denying the fact that data and privacy are closely connected to each other as discussed in the book The Circle by Dave Eggers. It is also a popular topic which has caused a heated debate in nowadays society of an information explosion. Although it seems that sometimes data cooperates with privacy to conduct an efficient job, there are times when they work to an injurious situation by the following evidences provided.

People are often driven to believe that data is a collection of our privacy which contributes to better understanding to each other. It does have some seemingly profound advantages, in the same time there lies intrinsic harmful characteristics. For example, Alistair, a sensitive man, was upset that Mae was absent for the Portugal brunch he organized because he simply searched for a list of people who "had visited the country, took pictures or mentioned it in an email or whatever"(111). The data has shown that Mae had been to Lisbon with pictures online and the story would definitely go another way if Mae did love Portugal stuff. However, the data did not show her genuine feelings which led to a misunderstanding in her relationship with her colleagues. That the data cannot display our emotion is often not noticed by public, and accordingly, is unconsciously overlooked.

Data can be used to protect our privacy in a positive way, but it can also expose us into public with danger. The ChildTrack program that Francis is working on is about to use data to enhance the security of children by putting chips in their wrists. However, "then seven kids go mission one day...when they get to the chips, all seven tracking to some parking lot, they find them all in a paper bag, all bloody. Just the chips"(88). Those chips worked in favor of kids' safety and mollified parents' concerns at the beginning; whereas it led to a misery eventually. In this context, data is supposed to benefit our life but it ended up with positioning us in a "naked" and threatening situation.

People sometimes hold a misconception that privacy can be obtained through data therefore we are capable to acquaint with each other more rapidly. Do you think that knowing a person is a waste of time? If yes, you may like to type in the name of your date in the LuvLuv, then it would search everything he/she has ever posted and provide you with analysis of relevance of the information. Mae considered "having a matrix of preference presented as your essence, as the whole you...was some kind of mirror, but it was incomplete, distorted"(126). Mae's thoughts provide an adequate justification for my opinion. People should communicate directly to acquire the information they want, not merely by "reading" someone's data.

In short, from what I have discussed above, I would draw an conclusion that we should use data properly to protect or share our privacy. Only in this way can we balance between "private" and "public" in the times of an information explosion.