Privacy and Bird Watching
During Doctor Gates’ lecture, we discussed the everchanging view on internet privacy. There has always been concerns when it comes to what is and what isn’t private online. We find ourselves questioning this concept even in today’s society., worrying about who has access to our information and what they can do with it.
As far as I can tell, the bird watching community doesn’t seem to have big concerns when it comes to online privacy. Most bird watching takes place in the field so the online presence is just for sharing resources and connecting with other birders. These resources include field guides, maps and locations concerning local species, and recordings/videos of bird songs and movements. The resources available online can be accessed with little more than an email address and a username. I believe that there isn’t a lot of concern for privacy and identity theft because most bird watchers go by these usernames or nicknames in online forums. These usernames provide the user with a certain anonymity that can protect them from elementary forms of identity theft.
Another thing that makes this community not as susceptible to privacy concerns or identity theft has to be that there isn’t much use for a credit cards. As long as I have been involved with bird watching websites and communities, I have never had to submit credit card information or any personal data. I think that this is great because I don’t have to do too much to access online resources and don’t have to risk my identity.