What Would You Give Up in the Name of Research?

When reading John Markoff's article, You're Leaving A Digital Trail, I had a hard time moving past what astounded me in the introduction. These young men were exchanging pieces of their lives in return for a new toy. Harrison Brown, when interviewed, stated that he saw it as "a drop in the bucket in terms of privacy" because of his facebook profile and email accounts, however it made me question what the average American citizen would be willing to voluntarily submit to researchers both now and in the future.

An argument could be made that the specific example given in this article was hardly a significant allowance of the part of the students at M.I.T.. Knowing what music a person listens to is typically no deep dark secret, and it can be assumed that the phone calls made through the smartphone were to people that person is publicly acquainted with. As far as the article states, there is no evidence that content is taken from the actual reading of text messages and listening of phone calls, therefore other than the sender and recipient, all other aspects of those students' lives remain private.

However, I ask myself if I would be willing to make the same bargain, and every time I conclude there is no possible way I could be persuaded to do such a thing. Maybe my personality is too shy and that is what is keeping me from understanding. Or perhaps I'm simply stubborn and refuse to change the belief system under which my parents raised me: that what is mean to public is done in public, and what you do when alone or between friends is meant for you only. No matter what the reason, I find myself to be behind the new curve of thinking that because other elements of my life (such as my email address and facebook profile) are traceable that the rest of it should be as well.

I am not against research, and I mean that wholeheartedly. I support the new forms of technology and embrace changes made in today's society. Yet when it comes to relinquishing personal freedoms, I find myself asking when enough is enough? And scarier yet, if this is where we are at today, where will this country find itself ten years from now?