| Keith via plug on 19 Jan 2021 13:20:50 -0800 |
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| Re: [PLUG] car tracking |
On 1/18/21 7:13 PM, Rich Freeman wrote:
On Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 2:51 PM Keith via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:We still need better privacy laws in America but that is a non-technical issue...I've gone on this rant before, but I actually think we're in a transition period before we reach a state of zero privacy. The lack of privacy isn't actually the problem. The problem is that our culture is all designed around having privacy and now we really just have an illusion of privacy.
I've had this rant too but I do want to drop in my opposing points because I disagree with this 1000%. We absolutely have privacy- if no other example, the human mind is repository of private things. Despite scifi stuff and dreams of tech from Minority Report, lack of privacy is mostly self-inflicted because most people do things to compromise their privacy AND security. Those are not the same thing. Compromising one ***can*** be bad but compromising both is what leads to the worse situations. Something that is private is not necessarily secure and something that is secure is not necessarily private.
One of the biggest privacy issues right now is social networking and the fact that most people a succumbing to social pressure to make stupid decisions about things that should remain private.
Imagine a world where there was no clothing. It probably wouldn't be any different from the world we live in. However, if you were to step outside your house today wearing only your natural garments you'd certainly cause a stir. The problem is that you stand out and are outside the norms.
I would argue that if there wouldn't be any difference then the subject of what should be private was really never a subject that had a relevant privacy issue ***in a universal way*** (i.e. someone else agreeing on the value of what is private). Your example for instance would fall flat at a nudist camp. It would also fall flat for those who aren't sensitive to nudity generally. The concept of norms is relative and somewhat dynamic over a long time period. In that regard you could take someone born in 2000 and they would have zero issues with what was considered "nudity" in 1900. Things that should be private do not experience a high degree of relativism or dynamic'ness. Once they do, then that subject's privacy value proposition probably can be questioned. As a society changes you could make the argument that privacy changes but that does not prevent individuals from making decisions for themselves.
I understand what you are saying here but this to me is more about social etiquette and those norms you mentioned. Not everything is for everybody to know outside of you. Its asymmetric... you might be "real" with someone at home or close friends compared to professional acquaintances. Doing that is again a conscious decision. You can't be caught on a "hot" mike... or Zoom call... if you are vigilant about keeping private things private.Privacy allows us to choose how we want everybody around us to see us. Without privacy they would just see us how we really are, and everybody else would be in the same situation. Today losing your privacy causes problems because we don't live in a culture where this is the norm.
The reason I think it will become the norm is that privacy is just information security, and information wants to be free.
It may want to be free but that doesn't mean it has to get what its wants ;)
While some things will be out of an individuals control it is not true that this has to happen. People have agency and this idea of impending doom that everyone will know everything about you only will happen if you let it. Is it harder now than 20 years ago. Of course but that is not in a vacuum. If I ask someone what did to mitigate a privacy leak, most of the time I'm going to be able to find something they did to allow the event to happen. From what I have seen, most people are more interested being part of the herd that being individuals first. You'll always have problems with that mindset.Eventually it will be so cheap to collect and disseminate, you won't be able to stop it. Of course, that may be one or more lifetimes in the future. Eventually though everybody will know everything about everybody, and will have to figure out how to deal with this. Employers will no longer be able to find any candidates with pasts that are free of blemishes, so they'll stop worrying about this. And so on...
LOL... I'm not quite sure where you are going with this point but this is certainly a good example of understanding privacy and security.Oh, and maybe somebody will finally figure out that keeping credit card numbers secret is a really stupid authentication system...
-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Keith C. Perry, MS E.E. Managing Member, DAO Technologies LLC (O) +1.215.525.4165 x2033 (M) +1.215.432.5167 www.daotechnologies.com ___________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug