James Martin

Could online privacy one day be a thing of the past as we share more and more details about ourselves through social networks? Vint Cerf certainly believes that privacy will become much harder to ensure.

The father of the Internet spoke Tuesday about online privacy at a US Federal Trade Commission workshop called the "Internet of Things." A series of tweets posted by Adweek reporter Katy Bachman captured some of Cerf's key comments.

Cerf said that "privacy may be an anomaly," warning that "it will be increasingly difficult for us to achieve" it. But at least some of the fault lies with us.

"Most of the experience with privacy is a result of our own behavior," Cerf said. "Our social behavior is quite damaging to privacy. Technology has outraced our social intellect." .

Cerf certainly makes a valid point. We can shake our fists at the Googles and Facebooks of the online world for not giving a damn about our privacy. But those of us who share every personal detail about our lives via Facebook or Twitter must also shoulder some of the blame for the erosion of privacy.

(Via The Register)