While "experts" - and the rest of us - fret over the computerized exposure of hundreds of millions of our personal files on Facebook and elsewhere, I've more fearful questions.
How much of all our other information has been shared by other data collecting sources we know nothing about? By whom? For whom? And for what purpose?
Our electronic world has grown up amazingly fast in the long arc of history. Suddenly, it was here. After getting over the wonder and discovering what it could accomplish, we jumped in and it became an integral part of our lives.
"How did we ever get along without this," we gushed? "Look what we can do! Look at the possibilities!"
Yep, all true. But, as it seems with nearly all leaps forward in our technology-driven world, we skipped a couple of steps before we dove headlong into it. We dropped the old ways and went straight to the new.
Two steps we really didn't pay sufficient attention to seem to be these: What are the down sides and, just because we can, should we?
Human history is filled with examples of how our intellectual and technological accomplishments have been perverted to uses we never dreamed of and, sometimes, used by others against us. Someone out there is always ready to turn a new invention to unintended purposes. From the discovery of fire to our headlong rush into the information world, we've often suffered at the hands of the unscrupulous.
There's an important question that should be asked before we leap into a new advancement: should we do it just because we can?
Probably the most glaring example of that query deals with prolonging life. Because we can, should we? We have the technology to keep a heart beating forever. But, is that right if the body is dead by all other measurements? Are the unrealistic hopes of family more important than quality of life of the near-dead?
Esoteric? Yes. Happen every day? Yes. You can even pile up a stack of ethicists on either side of that issue. Still, the basic question of "should we" goes unanswered. We just do. There are many such instances in our everyday lives. Issues of "We can. But should we?"
The subject of Internet abuse may seem far-removed from issues of life and death. But, is it? Haven't we seen myriad abuses of crime, threats to life (or lives), terrorism, illegal data gathering (and abuse), manipulation of financial institutions and even entire countries? Fear spread by racists, demagogues and the unscrupulous. All unintended consequences of Internet development.
I'm certainly not proposing we stop using or avoid contact with our amazing technology. Far from it. The dazzling array of things we can do to better our world by its use is tremendously important.
But, we're further ahead in development than in safeguarding ourselves in that use. For better or worse, we've got this life-changing, world-changing force pushing us, for which we don't have realistic safeguards or protections.
As in the prolonging of life issue, we're further ahead in technology than we are in ethics. We're in an electronic world without sufficient rules or even proper constraints on its use or the necessary safeguards. But, here we are!
Even now, we've seen Internet abuses in our national elections. We have the technology to cast a vote but apparently insufficient electronic safeguards to always assure a valid outcome.
We live in a world where the words "caveat emptor" have never been more important.
Given the proven personal exposure of an entire population to forces beyond our control, maybe that should read "CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!"