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Many thanks for taking advantage of your opportunity to give a thoughtful and reasoned statement to the committee! Your advocacy of late has done a lot to raise
by OrwellianChild 7y ago
Many thanks for taking advantage of your opportunity to give a thoughtful and reasoned statement to the committee! Your advocacy of late has done a lot to raise the profile of these privacy issues, and you've been able to keep your explanations clear and understandable. That's not easy, and you've clearly taken time to prepare your critiques.
This extends to your Tech Solidarity [1] work, coaching politicians and journalists... (Thank you for updating/clarifying your recommendations last month to keep it current!)
Your Tech Solidarity security guidelines are purely defensive in nature, while this testimony was much more proactive and forward-thinking... Have you given consideration to spending more of your time lobbying in favor of specific legislation or educating politicians about these topics on a longer term basis? You seem to have their ear, and could conceivably fundraise around these issues. (I realize the personal commitment it would require on your part - just curious whether you're thinking about next steps...)
In the meantime, are there things that average internet citizens can do beyond following the Tech Solidarity guidelines to both protect their own privacy and also support/advocate for progress on these issues? I can pretty easily block trackers, use 2FA, use HTTPS Everywhere, but as you've articulated in your testimony, what we really need is a sort of "herd immunity" like what vaccines attempt to achieve. How do we get there from here?
[1] https://techsolidarity.org/resources/basic_security.htm https://techsolidarity.org/resources/basic_security.htm
- Despegar 7y ago>In the meantime, are there things that average internet citizens can do beyond following the Tech Solidarity guidelines to both protect their own privacy and also support/advocate for progress on these issues? Focusing on tech solutions is a band aid to a systemic and structural problem that can only be addressed in law. That's why GDPR is good and why Congress grappling with passing privacy legislation is good.
- ethbro 7y agoComing up with proof of concept technical solutions is a good first step. It helps determine facts about the problem (What type of trackers are used? How widely? What changes when they're blocked?), which is critical for quality legislation.
- idlewords 7y agoThe problem with privacy in our age is that it's a collective harm issue (like public health, or environmental protection) so there really isn't much individuals can do, other than petition for regulatory change. There are lots and lots of people working in this space worth following. One person in particular working on the California privacy law is Ashkan Soltani, and his twitter account (@ashk4n) is worth a follow. And I think no one thinks more deeply or incisively about these issues than Zeynep Tufekci. If you haven't read her book (Twitter and Tear Gas) it's fantastic. I know it seems otherwise because of my fundraising work last year, but I really don't have strong connections to D.C. or any inside knowledge on what is on the regulatory agenda. Everyone I know in this space is kind of just winging it.