My wife and I have 9 children.  Since they were little, we have consistently told them, "there are no secrets on the Web.  If you want to hide something or do something secret - don't do it on the Web.  At some point it will all be visible."  For the most part they have got the message.  Most listen better than others.

I'm okay with the Web being a public place.  It doesn't bother me to shop in public, visit public venues, study in public, or spend money in public.  So I'm okay with the fact that I'm on a public network.  This seems to run counter intuitive to the expectation of privacy concerns...

Technology will always advance.  None of us are perfect so there is always an opportunity to improve.  What surprises me is that many people take offense and get up in arms whenever a new advancement improves our ability to communicate with one another - to make our lives more efficient - to observe one another when we are in a relationship with someone we trust.

Therein lies the secret.  New technologies like NebuAd, Facebook, Phormand others are not intrusive so long as bother parties agree and acknowledge that they are observing each other in order to improve the relationship that they have.  As I think about the NebuAd purpose of categorizing my browsing habits on the Web, I'm okay with it so long as I get to set limits on the relationship.  If my ISP wants to categorize my Web activities, fine, but ask my permission about which categories I want them to track on my viewing habits.  It's not a one size fits all relationship.  They can track my movie searches, cars and clothes, but I don't want them tracking medical issues.  Those are private.

Having said that - I must ask the question - is the ISP relationship a public place or a private place?  If the pipeline they provide to connect to the public Web, public or private?  If it is public then I know I'm in a public place and I won't use the Web for medical searches.  If it's private, then my ISP and I get to have a heart-to-heart conversation about our relationship and what information I willing to share with others.

Sounds like the same kind of conversations my wife and I have with our children.  It's all about the relationship and knowing what is personal and private and what is for public consumption.

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