How much is our privacy worth these days?
Apparently, the answer is only $12 and that is being generous.
On Tuesday night, I was surprised to receive an email from Google, which notified me that I was entitled to a payment as part of a class action settlement pertaining to the now-defunct Google Plus.
The email notified me that my rights may have been affected by a breach of privacy that impacted former Google Plus users in 2018.
Apparently, the former social media service experienced two software bugs that year that exposed the personal information of hundreds of thousands of users, including names, email addresses, occupations and ages, according to a report from Business Insider.
According to the email, Google records indicate that I may be a settlement class member since I had a Google Plus account between Jan. 1, 2015 and April 2, 2019, and am therefore eligible to receive a payment from the settlement.
Although Google has agreed to pay $7.5 million as part of the settlement, eligible class members will only receive up to a $12 payment, depending on the number of claimants. Payments start as low as $5.
That’s how much our privacy is worth these days — a cup of coffee or if you’re lucky enough to receive the maximum payment for the data breach, a takeout lunch.
Google notes in its email that people who claim their payment by Oct. 8 forfeit their right to sue the company over the matter. The lawsuit was filed by former Google Plus users.
The Google settlement is just another reminder of how little privacy people have these days. We are living in a time where everything we put online stays in cyberspace forever, no matter how much we try to delete posts from our younger and more naive years.
It is hard to count how many stories I have seen about people losing their jobs or at the very least, enduring public scrutiny over past tweets, posts or comments from years ago.
Not only are job applicants being scrutinized for their résumés or cover letters these days, but prospective employers and recruiters are scouring their social media pages and search history to determine who the best candidates are.
Even more unsettling is how much technology can glean from your search histories or online activity.
Anyone who has shopped for something online is familiar with how often they are reminded of their possible purchases through the constant advertisements of that particular product that pop up on every social media page or site they visit after the fact.
And how often has Siri or Amazon Alexa interrupted one of our conversations without being prompted? The unanticipated remarks can be humorous at the time, but somewhat unsettling in hindsight.
The safest approach seems to be to avoid putting any personal information online altogether. But in an age where people are penalized for not having an online presence, keeping a low profile is not always an option.
So, post and share if you must, but remember to do it at your own risk. You never know who may be watching.
