Youtube Viacom Ruling

I am worried.

Earlier this week, a judge ordered Youtube to give Viacom a list of all Youtube users and what Youtube videos they have watched. This is primarily for Viacom to be able to build a credible case that their programming is rampantly uploaded onto Youtube, and consumed by a majority of Youtube visitors.

I’m concerned about this in general for two reasons.  First of all, I’m concerned that Viacom will now know what I am watching on Youtube, and I don’t think they should know unless I volunteer this information.  Second, I’m really nervous about what they will do with this information.  Will they come after people like me (and you) that have watched (Viacom) clips on Youtube?  I certainly hope not, especially since Youtube’s entire purpose in life is for the general public to view clips on it…right?

But this is a warning about the downsides to Cloud Computing…once information on our personal lives is in the hands of a third party, there’s not telling where it can go next. Having said that, I can’t imagine a world in which we do not use services like google, gmail, youtube etc.  But I have to say, I never did take the privacy issue very seriously until now.  Here’s hoping that there are some entrepreneurs that are building a technology that will ensure our personal lives stay personal.