Privacy is a critical area for IT, and as social media and mobile extend potential privacy invasions into areas once considered safe, reasonable safeguards must be taken. But it has to be acknowledged that many restrictions — you’re not allowed to save this or to track that — are simply not going to work. If data can be accessed, it will be used and retained, and no rules or laws to the contrary will make any difference.

Two recent events make it clear how such attempts are futile. In Germany, a country where privacy is generally valued much higher than in the U.S., a mini-uproar erupted when the government was asked to not store the IP addresses of web visitors. A European Union court ultimately told the government it could go right ahead and save the addresses. And if the court had gone the other way, are we supposed to believe that thousands of government employees would have simply done without the data?

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