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To add to that, I have found that a lot of my friends in the software developer community, who used to have the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" mentality, ar

To add to that, I have found that a lot of my friends in the software developer community, who used to have the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" mentality, are finally paying more attention to privacy related issues in light of the new administration in the States. Reminds me of what Snowden said a few years back, "Even if you trust the government today, what happens when it changes?”. I have noticed a similar phenomenon happening among my non-technical family members as well. So yes, I am totally with you that things are changing, I am excited to see how the dynamic changes in Silicon Valley for companies that used to rely on that mentality. However, I am still worried that this might just be an initial reaction to the regime change in the States and it might die down soon as people, at the very least the non-technical people, might become tired of how hard it is to use products that are privacy and "freedom" respecting and might fall back to the convenience of the products and services offered "free" but for the price of their privacy.

digi_owl 10y ago
I can't help wonder if it is a generational memory thing. The people doing tech now didn't grow up or live through a massive war and police states. Because those that did had insulated them from that. It seems like we humans are incapable of learning from past events because we primarily learn by experiencing. End result is that we take the status quo for granted until it changes, boiling frog like.
- intended 10y ago
  It is definitely a generational and cultural thing. For example : I feel the same way about American positivity on self driving cars, because I live in a country where people can drive on the wrong side of the road, or footpaths. Where beggars can swamp your car during a light, or where gangs distract you by tapping the back of your car. These are cultural memory and experience. In India, people are very pro surveillance, many believe that we have nothing to hide and those who do are likely criminals. We are only building civil liberties groups today. Side note: apparently the boiling frog thing isn't true. If it gets hot it jumps out.
- xkxx 10y ago
  > boiling frog like Just want to mention that the anecdote about a frog slowly being boiled alive has no foundation in reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog.
- qplex 10y ago
  To be fair, your viewpoint is quite narrow. There are plenty people doing tech and living in police states even today.

digi_owl 10y ago

I can't help wonder if it is a generational memory thing. The people doing tech now didn't grow up or live through a massive war and police states. Because those that did had insulated them from that. It seems like we humans are incapable of learning from past events because we primarily learn by experiencing. End result is that we take the status quo for granted until it changes, boiling frog like.

intended 10y ago
It is definitely a generational and cultural thing. For example : I feel the same way about American positivity on self driving cars, because I live in a country where people can drive on the wrong side of the road, or footpaths. Where beggars can swamp your car during a light, or where gangs distract you by tapping the back of your car. These are cultural memory and experience. In India, people are very pro surveillance, many believe that we have nothing to hide and those who do are likely criminals. We are only building civil liberties groups today. Side note: apparently the boiling frog thing isn't true. If it gets hot it jumps out.
xkxx 10y ago
> boiling frog like Just want to mention that the anecdote about a frog slowly being boiled alive has no foundation in reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog.
qplex 10y ago
To be fair, your viewpoint is quite narrow. There are plenty people doing tech and living in police states even today.