With the ubiquity of Facebook and other social networking tools, most Internet users are accustomed now to divulging more personal information than they would have just a few short years ago. Privacy may not yet be a thing of the past, but technology seems to be pressing us in that direction. HTML5 is a new computer language designed to allow users to better surf the Web, but it also raises questions about how much more information it allows software developers and marketers to gather about users.
The New York Times describes it this way [10]:
“The new Web language and its additional features present more tracking opportunities because the technology uses a process in which large amounts of data can be collected and stored on the user’s hard drive while online. Because of that process, advertisers and others could, experts say, see weeks or even months of personal data. That could include a user’s location, time zone, photographs, text from blogs, shopping cart contents, e-mails and a history of the Web pages visited.”
For a taste of how HTML5 works, check out the latest music video from Arcade Fire [11], built entirely in HTML5 and which has a unique way of using your personal information, publicly available on the Web, to entwine you in the experience of the music.
HTML5 is not going to disappear tomorrow, but it does raise questions about the information we post and whether individuals and media organizations – particularly those working in difficult circumstances – should be more careful about their online activities. What do you think?
*Photo Source [12]