So soon we will all run around with large, colorful bars on our faces to remain undetected or we hope for data protection at this point. Or do we not need it at the end?

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Public or private? Who reads everything on the net!

In an ideal Welt would themselves PeopleBefore you use social networks, think about what you want with it and how other people use it Internet should perceive. They would be fully aware that they are publicly presenting themselves on the net and would anticipate the following Ask answer: Do I present myself completely unadulterated, can I stand by myself completely? Or am I trying to convey a specific image of myself? Do I want to market and present myself professionally? Or do I even represent one Companys? Who is my target group? And how do I talk to her? And which data and information do I then disclose publicly? In short: people would know exactly who they are and what they want.

Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. Apparently, many people have not yet learned that Effect ihrer Online- Assess activities correctly. And also the social media activities of many companies act often enough still like a large field of experimentation. There is no other way to explain the many big and small mistakes that have made social media so discredited: For example, people being fired because they gossip about their employer or data that others shared too freely with others have, be abused. Because a lot of people don't seem to be aware of what they're doing.

Help, boss is reading along!

Lukas Murauer from Völs in Tirol was angry. On his Facebookprofile he posted the Status: “At some point I'll set mine Executive open a bucket, the idiot! ”A student from Freienbach in Switzerland wrote on Facebook"Ms. H. [her teacher] fits with her ass for sure not in this box.” A sixteen year old in the UK referred to Facebook her job as boring. And a nurse from Stockholm published on Facebook Photos she took during an operation. Now all of this is nothing special, such postings occur millions of times a day. However, these cases were all known for the same reason: All of these people then lost their jobs because the boss had noticed.

Well some like criticizethat the bad bosses are to blame because they spy on their employees. Or the Internet again, because it gives people its Privacy deprived. But the fact is: In many of these cases, the Facebook-Faux pas just the icing on the cake because the concerned Employees had also become conspicuous elsewhere. And everyone had missed one thing: namely the privacy of Facebook set so that their bosses just can't read it. And they had neglected to ask themselves the important question before using the Internet: Am I on the Internet more privately - or more professionally? And who can, may and should notice that?

In recent years, the world has become much more complicated: in the past, when there was only Xing, the world was still in for many people Order. Because Xing was – and still is – reserved for professional use only. Since there were networks like Twitter, Facebook and probably also the newly introduced Google+, nothing is as it was before. Because here, on the other hand, the boundaries are more fluid: some use it professionally, others privately and you don't really know exactly how to behave. That makes things exciting - but also complex. And simply using different channels for different target groups may seem like an effective means at first glance. A closer look reveals that this strict separation can hardly be maintained in reality, as Uwe Knaus, blog manager at Daimler, explains: “I myself have been using social media relatively intensively in recent years. In doing so, I notice that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between 'professional' and 'private'. At first I declared my Facebook- and Twitter account as private - XING was intended for 'business' use. In the meantime, I have been contacted professionally on all three platforms - sometimes around the clock. What matters is not how I organize it, but how the others see it. That's why I always behave in such a way on the social web that I don't have to be uncomfortable either as a private person or as a Daimler employee. "

Online reputation and job search online

Jan Kirchner from Atenta Personalberatung recommends for the decision, what to post on social networks and what not, a radical method: just let it be! In April 2010 he said in our ZEIT ONLINETalk on Deutschlandradio on the subject Job Search with social media: "Don't write anything on social networks that you wouldn't also write big on a wall!" I'll even go one step further: If you don't want something to reach the wrong ears, just don't tell anyone! As in so many areas, social media does not raise any new questions, but only reinforces existing ones Problems: Employees have always had to think about which of their colleagues they confide in – and who not. There has always been gossip in companies about things that the boss would rather not hear. The only problem is that these Communication has meanwhile moved from the field radio to the Internet, where it is faster to find a broader one Audience can reach - and where it can still be found years later. The schizophrenia that results from this is shown by attitudes like this: “I might tell my colleagues some things at the regulars’ table in the evening – and then I hope that they have forgotten it the next day. But at Facebook I would never post that! " Such round table discussions can become just as problematic as a casual facebook Entry.

However, the question arises as to whether a strict separation of Job and private life can hold out at all. yourself emotionally all the time check and to refrain from any private statements is not only inhuman, but also appears inauthentic to other people - and therefore disturbs the good relationship with colleagues. Robindro Ullah, head of additional services at DB Services, therefore has a completely different one for himself Solution found: “The topic of mixing “private” and “professional” has been with me for much longer than my social media life, which has now been three years old. Immediately after joining Deutsche Bahn, I became a member of the TraineeClub, like every young academic in the group. The cross-divisional club brings young people closer to the Group in forums, fireside chats and excursions, but also at regulars' tables and leisure activities. Questions quickly arose like: 'Do I give out my private cell phone number or my work number? Do I keep my distance or do I also tell private things?' Because even in such a large corporation, you meet up again sooner than you think in a professional context. So for me it stood fast firmly: A strict separation between professional and private topics is not possible. On the contrary: Mixing leads to closer social contacts, strengthens the network among the employees - and their bond to the group. However, how much private life you allow to flow into your job is something that everyone has to do individually decide.” And that's the problem for many.

Like an open book: Facebook and privacy

The “great” thing about Facebook is that it makes the decision of how much to show of yourself easy for you. By default, Facebook namely set so that all information is accessible to everyone. Because Facebook wants his users to tell as much about themselves as possible, because the more open your own profile is, the more interaction with other users takes place. And that is exactly what is extremely important for Mark Zuckerberg: Because the value of his company increases the more users stay on the site for as long as possible and disclose as much data as possible about themselves that the company can profitably use for advertising purposes merchandise can. And so that as many people as possible keep these standard privacy settings, Facebook as difficult as possible for its users to change them. For example, Facebook no so-called fake profiles, i.e. a profile that is created under a name other than your own. You will sustained prompted to verify their account via mobile phone or credit card number - if you don't do that, it doesn't happen so far. The trickiest method, however, is that Facebook usually brings out new options every few months, which mean that users have to click their way through the increasingly complex privacy settings in order not to reveal information that they actually did not want to reveal.

These are currently located at the top right under “Account”. The individual options can be handled individually if you click on “User-defined settings”: Now you can choose for each individual point, such as pinboard entries, birthday or whereabouts, who the respective Information can see: everyone, friends of friends, just friends - or just yourself. In the preview profile you can then see how much of the profile the respective friends see. But more is possible: For example, you can divide your friends into different groups, for example “Private”, “Professional” or “close friends” and then only share certain information with them.

The boss from your own Facebook-Keep the bulletin board away - that's how it works

For example, if you want to prevent your boss - or whoever - from viewing the entries on your Facebook- You can do this in various ways:

How good are Fac's privacy settingsebook?

Sounds complicated? That may be: you have to search around, click, try. And presumably, Facebook in near Future even change something in the settings again. But if you still have doubts as to whether the effort is worth it, I recommend having friends or relatives review your own profile as a decision-making aid. Not because it would help you navigate Facebook to understand. But because openbook is radically ahead of everyone Eyes leads what he has now publicly posted for everyone to see – according to the motto: “Facebook® helps you connect and share with the people in your life. Now, even if they are not your friends and you don't know them, you can still read peoples recent posts (based on their own words) ”(freely translated:“ Facebook helps the people in Contact to connect and share information. Whether you know them or are friends with them, you can still read their posts.”

No, you don't even have to go to Facebook be registered in order to receive precarious information or racist derailments free of charge with the name of the sender. Simply enter the relevant search terms or the names of people. The site looks almost like Facebook, but has nothing to do with Mark Zuckerberg - on the contrary: the three open bookFounders Will Moffat, Peter Burns and James Home are softwareDeveloper or designers in San Francisco and even at Facebook Registered. Your concern for privacy at Facebook but it was so big that they created Openbook as a deterrent. And they advise every member to change their privacy settings on Facebook to check. Or even better: switch it off completely.

Traces on the net: nothing stays secret!

C't magazin published a sensational one in its January 2011 issue Article. The authors Marcus Lindemann Jan Schneider had linked freely available information on the Internet in such a way that the profile of a real person resulted. They wanted to show what traces people leave on social networks.

Significantly, they chose the high-ranking employee of an Internet company as the protagonist, who still likes to publicly boast about his openness. The authors find information in texts, reports and photos about professional careers and employers, hobbies, personal preferences, daily routines, pets, the house and floor, the license plate number. And the authors find other intimate information, such as Family and friends, children, previous partnerships and the love story of the married couple. And all of these people are back online with data and let themselves be light to contact. All information that is completely harmless on its own in the Combination however, make a big whole. In the end, even the otherwise Internet-savvy protagonist of this story was so shocked by the information he had gathered that he prohibited publication under his name - even though he himself had provided all the available data.

Stupid when dealing with your own data

The Democratic US MP Anthony Weiner was too carefree with his personal data, yes, you could almost say stupid. At the end of May, Weiner accidentally posted a close-up of his tight-fitting underpants with suspicious bulges on the Internet via the online short message service Twitter. Now such precarious things like to spread like wildfire - subsequent extinguishing doesn't help much anymore, the Streisand effect sends its regards. Therefore, Weiner was unable to deny the matter or to blame alleged hackers. In the end, the married MP admitted in tears at a press conference that lewd photos were posted on the Internet and that six women were erotic eMails to have exchanged. It happened as it had to: Weiner resigned.

Stories like that may sound funny because they serve the glee of their readers. The effect that arises from the fact that everyone thinks: “It's your own fault, why are they putting something on the net!”. Unfortunately, it's not that simple: Even if we keep a low profile on the internet or are perhaps not active at all, we give ourselves away: through our friends and acquaintances. Because the old saying: “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” is even more valid on the internet. And there are people who definitely benefit from it!

Privacy checklist

I already know what you want tomorrow?

Some time ago I was looking for cheap flights on the internet. From then on, when I surfed the Internet on a wide variety of sites such as blogs, news sites or online shops, I was repeatedly shown flight advertisements - exactly for the flight destination I had in mind. And since my first search was unsuccessful, I clicked on that a few times, feeling hopeful Advertising. Apparently, during my first search, I downloaded a cookie in the background that saved exactly my search query. Only when I deleted my collected cookies in the browser did the advertising disappear. This is exactly how successful advertising tailored to the personal wishes of the user works on the Internet.

Who AmazonCustomer is already familiar with this: If I'm looking for a book or searched during the last visit, I'm shown a handful of books on similar topics. Quite a few find this practical: they only see what they would actually buy. And for me, too, it worked extremely well for the flight advertisement – ​​I clicked on it right away. Or the Google Instant Search, in which frequently entered search terms are displayed first – and which can at least be switched off. But we really don't want that, because we click on it because we're too lazy to type it ourselves. But maybe we are too lazy to think for ourselves?

This is how social media works as a business model

Exactly after this Pattern the business model also works in social networks. The only difference is that our data is not saved by a cookie, which we can easily delete afterwards, but that we are happy to enter our data ourselves. Google, Facebook and other networks not only collect our interests for certain music, books, films - no, they also record where we were on vacation, what we are happy about and also every other smallest emotion that we give there. And all this together with our name, address and telephone number. From this they can create accurate profiles of each individual user draw up.

The algorithms with which this data is collected, evaluated and linked is the company's well-kept secret. Of course, the collection and transfer of personal data without the express consent of the user is prohibited by law. The collection and transfer of anonymous data and, on the other hand, also permitted without consent. And that's exactly what is done, as we do, for example, in the advertisements in our user profile at Facebook can see very nicely. And the users themselves also become advertising space: through their ratings, likes, retweets or comments, they make us believe that this or that product is particularly valuable, good and worth buying. Unfortunately, such recommendations are not always objective and it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish whether someone is really excited about a product or whether - intentionally or unintentionally - there is a sophisticated marketing strategy behind it.

The Sinn behind all the effort: advertising that doesn't suit us, that is boring and that clear recognizable as advertising will be ignored. We know that from the commercial breaks on television. However, the more precisely advertising is tailored to our interests, the funnier it is and the more likely it is that the sender is someone we trust – the more likely our interest is. And even if it is often claimed that it may be practical if we get advertising that exactly matches what we have been looking for: nobody is against it Tampering immune. And maybe things are going the other way around: We don't look for something and then find the right advertising information, but the advertising arouses desires and ultimately tempts us to buy something that we perhaps didn't want to buy.

Data mining and predictive analysis

Because that's exactly what it is Objective by statistical Methods such as data mining and predictive analysis: recognizing patterns from existing data and thus predicting future trends and developments. In their blog, for example, employees of the Company Recorded Future to show how political developments coming from public news can be "predicted". But of course this works in Marketing just as well - could soon have a new quality: advertising space that recognizes in advance what we want!

That's not as absurd as it sounds: the American company Intel is best known for the manufacture of PC microprocessors and chips. But with its subsidiary Cognovision, Intel could now revolutionize the advertising market. CognoVision has a System developed for facial recognition by billboards. Sounds funny, but it isn't. Everyone who looks at the board is caught. The software collects information about the size and shape of facial features. These are then matched against a database containing comparative material. This then results in gender and approximate Age of persons. The hit rate is between 85 and 95 percent. But that should only be the beginning: Intel's responsible department director, Jose Avalos, believes that the system will also recognize individual faces in a few years.

The lives of others: what do they do with our data?

In the Oscar-winning film “The Lives of Others”, a Stasi captain shadows an artist couple around the clock and thus takes more and more of an interest in their lives. The story ends tragically for those involved. More and more people are also participating in our lives thanks to the Internet and modern technologies. This can end tragically for us if we are not careful.

If you follow the computer scientists Constanze Kurz and Frank Rieger, both spokesmen for the hacker association Chaos Computer Club, then this is just the beginning. Because actually it's not just about giving people a few products merchandise, but about the big social whole: namely about control, maintaining power and manipulation - by the state and Economy equally. In their book "Die Datenfresser" they paint gloomy future scenarios. For example, that of a state in which efficiency, order and security are very important and data protection is less important - and where people expose themselves to the danger of state reprisals and harassment through any digital abnormalities. The maxim “I have nothing to hide”, with which many post-privacy advocates argue, is just an empty phrase for the authors. Because everyone has something to hide. For Kurz and Rieger, the discussion about the abolition of privacy primarily benefits those who benefit financially from the lack of data protection: the companies that want to sell our data to advertisers with the highest bidder. And what's more: Internet service providers, the authors warn, could be preparing to become our all-encompassing life manager, who will tell us appointments and dates when we wake up in the morning (of course with our favorite music!). eMails reads out loud and while brushing our teeth served us the messages preselected according to our interests - the filter bubble sends its regards. From there it is only a small step to complete brainwashing. Yes, ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt is even quoted on page 95 with the sentence: “I think most people don't want Google to answer your questions. They want Google to tell them what to do next. "

In the end, however, Kurz and Rieger found out for themselves: this future has not yet been written. What helps us to shape it positively is digital maturity: This means critically dealing with the business models of companies and the Measures of the state, resisting advertising insinuations, paying attention to which data you disclose to whom - and overall the Balance to be found between data costs and the benefit one has by disclosing one's data.