Privacy is what you make of it

I think it's interesting, that at the same time we have unprecedented levels of fraud, intrusions, and identity theft, we have a phenomenal increase in peoples' ability and willingness to make contacts and share information, with large and unknown audiences. Social networking sites are taking off like wildfires. Blogs pervade the net with a huge variety of personal information. "Virtual friendships" are becoming more common than "real" friendships...often, without the basic elements of knowing names, ages, locations, even gender. People put out huge amounts of information about themselves, and mobile technology is moving ever faster to interlace the virtual and real worlds. Online communities are giving people a sense of connection, of belonging, of being a part of their world in a way that hasn't been widespread since the Industrial Revolution. And yet...

I read the blog of someone I have never met. Based on what he posts, and what I learned by Googling him on the open Internet, I know his name, address, employer, son's name and school, his dog's breed and name, the address of his vet, his wife's name and employer, his approximate net worth, his hobbies, his favorite books, what movie he went to see last weekend and what time (so I know what time he was out of the house) and where his parents live. I have more than enough information that, were I a malicious sort, I could utterly take over his identity, empty his bank account, steal his dog, burglarize his house, kidnap his son...

but in one of his recent posts he ranted at length about the "government's" responsibility to protect personal information and prevent identity theft. Sometimes I wonder if people just want to have it both ways.