I sincerely believe there is a coming backlash against Google/Facebook/Twitter style companies that have business models primarily based on advertising to user data with limited user control of that data:

Teens Want More Privacy Online Too | Fast Company: “A whopping 92% of teens surveyed believed they should be able to request the deletion of all their personal information held by a search engine, social network, or marketing company. “

The “Privacy Is Dead, Embrace Transparency” meme does have its valid points. Yet I don’t hear many of the 13 and 14 year olds I teach (or the 15-18 year olds I’ve previously taught) sounding very comfortable with the idea of handing over their identities in order to have a social network.

Instead, when I do get to approach the topic of sharing and transparency on places like Facebook, my teenage students frequently share the same concerns about their online identities, offline ramifications and uneasiness about advertising that I do (I’m 32).

Even though the current crop of teens is “growing up digital,” I have faith that they are not growing up swallowing the blue pill of tracking cookies.