17 Privacy Lost:Dose Anybody Care ? 失去隐私，有人在乎吗 ？
①Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the website you've visited.Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
②In fact,it's likely some of these things have already happened to you.Who would watch you without your permission?It might be a spouse,a girlfriend,a marketing company,a boss,a cop or a criminal.Whoever it is,they will see you in a way you've never intended to be seen-------the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked.
③Psychologists tell us boundreies are healthy,that it's important to reveal yourself to friends,family and lovers in stages,at appropriate times.But few boundries remain.The digital bread crumbs you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are,where you are and what you like.In some cases,a simple Google search can reveal what you think.Like it or not,increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
④The key question is:Does that matter?
⑤For many Americans,the answer apparently is "no."
⑥When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy,most say they are concered about losing it.A survey found an overwhelming pesimism about privacy,with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is"slipping away,and that bothers me."
⑦But people say one thing and do another.Only a tiny fraction of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy.Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ-pass system that can track automobile movements.And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards.Privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon.
⑧But privacy does matter-------at least sometimes.It's like health:When you have it,you dont notice it.Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.
