Awareness and public education to lift the perception of privacy that many people still have is certainly a first priority, though perhaps that message is finally starting to get through: a majority of internet users are uncomfortable with targetted advertising and targeted website content.

I think, however, that most people still don't realize the full potential of the data they are giving away. They might know how they are monitored, and even have some idea of what third parties monitor, but they don't realize just how vulnerable that loss of privacy leaves them. The detailed insight about someone you can get through data aggregation and statistical analysis (enabled by the exponentially decreasing costs of storage and processing power) is so unprecedented that most just dismiss it as science fiction.

That's why the Pandora's box nature of personal information is so troubling: 'common sense' predisposes people to vastly underestimate what they're giving away. You either need a way to get them to fully appreciate the bargain they're striking before they open the box, or create some mechanism to revert the damage once the mistake is realized. Both tasks are daunting enough to leave one pessimistic.

-- AndreiVoinigescu - 18 Jan 2009