3 ms·

I agree with almost everything you said, except this part. > I think the winds of the world are changing direction; people are becoming increasingly aware abou

I agree with almost everything you said, except this part. > I think the winds of the world are changing direction; people are becoming increasingly aware about privacy concerns, and these issues keep making the headlines. It seems like only a minority cares about privacy concerns to even understand them well and take some action. Even when privacy issues make the headlines, billions of people just shrug their shoulders (and perhaps a few thousand say a curse word or two) but still go back to the same old ways they've been using Facebook, Google, etc. I feel sad that the winds aren't changing direction, or at least not fast enough to be a force to reckon with.

eternalban 10y ago
> billions of people just shrug their shoulders As they have been doing from the beginning. The masses only act contrary to top level input when desperately hungry. Even their righteous anger is scripted and handed down. What has been the problem is that the critical non-elite core (say 10%) of society was ignorant of the consequences of these technologies and they are now getting a better sense. We only have to educate the 10% and only need to provide secure software for these same 10%. Societies change when the 10% no longer accepts the rule of the 1%. This is the primary critique against geek efforts to get "grandma" using crypto. If grandma is part of the 10%, she'll be able to follow step by step instructions.
Razengan 10y ago
Yeah, I should've said "I'd like to think/hope the winds are changing" but still, things like all the new messaging apps that make end-to-end encryption a selling point, and services like Skype losing active users at a rapid rate, do point to an undeniable if yet-miniscule effect. Even during casual conversations with some of my friends who wouldn't be expected to care about these issues, they occasionally let out a glib "Sorry NSA!" whenever they say something that's known to be picked up by their monitoring. So there is change. There is a chilling effect. And a big player like Apple making a big deal out of it, does help.

eternalban 10y ago

> billions of people just shrug their shoulders As they have been doing from the beginning. The masses only act contrary to top level input when desperately hungry. Even their righteous anger is scripted and handed down. What has been the problem is that the critical non-elite core (say 10%) of society was ignorant of the consequences of these technologies and they are now getting a better sense. We only have to educate the 10% and only need to provide secure software for these same 10%. Societies change when the 10% no longer accepts the rule of the 1%. This is the primary critique against geek efforts to get "grandma" using crypto. If grandma is part of the 10%, she'll be able to follow step by step instructions.

Razengan 10y ago

Yeah, I should've said "I'd like to think/hope the winds are changing" but still, things like all the new messaging apps that make end-to-end encryption a selling point, and services like Skype losing active users at a rapid rate, do point to an undeniable if yet-miniscule effect. Even during casual conversations with some of my friends who wouldn't be expected to care about these issues, they occasionally let out a glib "Sorry NSA!" whenever they say something that's known to be picked up by their monitoring. So there is change. There is a chilling effect. And a big player like Apple making a big deal out of it, does help.