Like your privacy? Too bad!

They’ve done it again, people. Facebook announced their worst hack ever, a troll job that has exposed upward of 50 million users personal data. That’s some faceless, stranger posse – hello – accessing your login and password, and touring your FaceBook page and all the data therein to their heart’s content. Friends, family, pets, neighbors, likes, dislikes, work, home, opinions both personal and political–EXPOSED.

Objective: Who knows?

Who cares? Whatever the reason, hacking is illegal, immoral, and an invasion of privacy!

CNN opted for hyperbole. “They (the hackers) could be Russian intelligence, gathering information from politicians’ personal accounts and then sitting on it until just the right moment to wreak havoc on the midterm or 2020 elections. They could be blackmailers, combing through the messages of high-value targets like politicians, government officials, and wealthy individuals.”

Great book fodder. Truth is, they, whoever they are, could be targeting everyday people: you, me, your local librarian, your next-door neighbor, or even the kids outside making the most of the still-warm weather.

Identity theft, anyone? Cyber-bullying? Stalking? Voyeurism alone lends a creep factor that has this author thinking twice about all social media.

But then I’m no hermit. Even so, the poor recluses of the world can’t hide out either. Human beings are social creatures and for every hermit, there’s at least one pair of eyes determined to learn something about him or her, even from a distance. (How else would the hero/heroine with the torturous secret find a happily ever after?)

Authors are particularly noted for incorporating observations of the people they meet into their work. Sadly, behavioral psychologists who make a living studying us like to make lists of what we do and what it supposedly means. That gives me the willies, too, as being pigeonholed bites. Unless you’re into stereotypes.

Check out the easy-access invasion of privacy courtesy of Inc.com with commentary from yours truly.

1. Your shopping habits may reveal your preference for detail.

(Those overhead cameras in the stores can be creepy. But visit Inc.org to learn if you’re an explanation fiend or foe.  This could reveal your cognitive intelligence!

2. The way you hang toilet paper may reveal how assertive you are.

(Over rollers are apparently dominant while under rollers are submissive. Good grief. What if you bypass fuss and balance the roll on top of the roller?)

3. Your eating habits may reveal how you approach life.

(Read deeper into that and you may go on a diet just because you don’t want to know what eating says about you.)

4) Your gait may reveal how vulnerable you feel.

(I’m grateful for the may qualifier. Aren’t you? What’s that saying about assuming? It makes a particularly stubborn creature out of potential list makers. Hint: An Ass. But assuming is what we all do every day despite our best efforts. Some prefer to call it judgment, but there are repercussions with that as well ;^)

5) Your language style may reveal your romantic feelings.

(Duh.)

6) Your emails may reveal whether you’re an extrovert or a narcissist.

(And this brings us back to FaceBook hacking, why people have passwords, and the need to address this very serious breach of personal space without delay. That leads right to lucky number seven.)

7) Your punctuality may reveal whether you’re Type A or B.

(They’re talking personality, not blood type. But I do like believing that a penchant for tardiness indicates a laid-back attitude. It’s better than being tagged lazy. That sounds so unromantic ;^)

Although “Psychologist Linda Sapadin told The Atlantic that she sees four types of personalities who are always late (you can be a combination of all four).”

“The perfectionist won’t leave the house until everything is in order. The crisis maker gets a high from racing to meet the deadline. The defier is rebelling against authority and societal norms. The dreamer is overly optimistic about how much they can get done in a certain amount of time.”

That last one is me. The dreamer. But privacy is a fantasy, people, complete privacy that is. However, companies that purport to be a friendly space where people can gather, share, and interact as they choose should stop dreaming and seriously get on the problem of protecting their users. Otherwise, the used, the farmed, the formerly trusting dreamers may choose to rebel against authority and the prevailing societal norms to go back to their hermit caves–a safe space to read about fictional suspense instead of living it.

Write on!