When a scorpion is a scorpion
If you are old enough to read this then I assume by now, somewhere in your life’s travels, you have heard the story of the scorpion and the turtle. As the story goes the scorpion wants a ride across the dangerous river and asks the turtle to help him out. The turtle wisely observes that if he allows the scorpion to hop on his back at some point he may succumb to the urge to sting the turtle and nobody wants that. Plus if he stings the turtle when they are in the middle of the river they’ll both die. The scorpion assures him he just wants a ride and begs and begs for his trust. Eventually the turtle gives in, lets the scorpion jump on his back and starts to make the swim across. As advertised and feared halfway into the journey the scorpion stings the turtle and just before they are swept away by the current the turtle in his dying breath says, “Why?” to which the scorpion replies, “Because dummy, I’m a scorpion.”
I was thinking about our old friend the scorpion recently as I watched yet another batch of stories make the newspaper proclaiming that social media isn’t really safe and all that data you are voluntarily supplying to the world is not private after all. As any 4 year old in preschool might say, “Duh.”
Before we unpack this suitcase entirely let me pose you this logical and simple question — why would someone you don’t know create a computer page just for you where you can upload photos and information and connect with friends, family and business associates? This same page would allow you to share events, grow your business and make money and connections. It even allows you to look up your old high school classmates, especially the cool ones who wouldn’t sit with you at lunch 40 years ago, and see how fat and wrinkly they’ve gotten. And you can do all these fun things for free. Why on earth would a stranger do that for you? The answer is that it’s not free and you are paying for the privilege to use the page by giving away your privacy.
Stories are now cropping up that allege Facebook (and others we don’t know about I suspect) are mining all that data they’ve collected on you and are selling it to the highest bidder. I’m not sure if people are upset that it’s happening or that some of the information may have helped Donald Trump. Trust me when I tell you, even if you can’t stand the president, any scenario where Mark Zuckerberg and his pals are sharing your personal information should upset you. It also shouldn’t surprise you.
It’s no coincidence that five minutes after you are shopping for lamp shades on Google an advertisement for lamp shades pops up on your social media page or to the side of an article you are reading on some website. You are being watched and monitored and seasoned like a Thanksgiving turkey for a feast; only you are the main course and strangers you don’t know paid for the rights to take a bite out of you.
Mr. Zuckerberg didn’t become a billionaire fifty times over because he has a lot of friends on the Facebook page he didn’t quite invent himself. By the way if Mark is reading this don’t be insulted, Steve Jobs didn’t build all those iPhones either. No Zuckerberg got rich because he could deliver a captive audience to advertisers or anyone looking to gather personal information on people and leverage it in some way. Put another way, the reason they can spend $3 million to make each “Game of Thrones” episode is because lots of people watch. And the reason you are given a free Facebook page to post pictures of your breakfast is because people watch; and I don’t mean your friends.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until they stick me in the old folk’s home, nothing you do on an electronic device is private. If you send a picture someone can see it. If you text a friend a secret message someone can read it. And nothing you delete is ever really deleted. George Orwell was only half right in 1984. We are being watched but 90% of the time we willingly hand over the personal information with a pretty bow attached. Think about that the next time you get in your smart car that can be tracked on GPS, with your smart phone that is pinging every cell tower you drive by and go to a restaurant where you snap a photo of your lobster bisque and “check in” so your friends on social media will be jealous because they are home in stretchy pants eating a microwaved hot pocket. You can’t do all those things and then six months later sit in astonishment saying to strangers, “How did you know I ate at Red Lobster at 6 p.m. on April 11, 2018? Are you spying on me?”
Zuckerberg didn’t do this. We did when we let the scorpion climb on our back and went for a swim.