4 ms·

The problem isn't Google so much as it is a lack of an understanding of the value of privacy and anonymity on the internet among the general population. And it

by gnosis 16y ago

The problem isn't Google so much as it is a lack of an understanding of the value of privacy and anonymity on the internet among the general population. And it is also a matter of the lack of serious support for maintaining such privacy and anonymity at the internet infrastructure level, and at the level of applications that interface with the internet (web browsers in particular). These things go hand in hand. As the general public becomes more educated about the value of privacy and anonymity (and what happens when, due to the lack of either, abuses occur) there will be more demand for technology that supports keeping their data and lives more private. Then software, hardware, and services that protect privacy and anonymity will become more economically viable, and companies like Google will have a much harder time spying on their users. This is why education about the value of privacy and anonymity is so valuable. Until that happens, people will voluntarily leak information about themselves all over the place. Witness the popularity of Facebook, or hundreds of other sites where people gladly give up their privacy for various dubious enticements.

gst 16y ago
I wonder if the public ever will become educated about the value of privacy. A few days ago I've tried to explain a friend who often uses Internet cafes how to use Google's two factor authentication for Gmail. Her answer was: "Why should I do this, this just makes it more complicated". When I explained to her that it prevents other's from being able to read her mails she responded that there's nothing interesting in her mailbox and she doubts anyone is interested in doing so. A decade or so ago I still had hope that tools like PGP/GPG will be widespread amongst the Internet population. But this all completely changed. People who used to use PGP to encrypt their mails and who've used to run their own mailservers because they didn't trust their provider just use GMail today. We're moving from a decentraliced infrastructure to a pure client/server infrastructure and there's not much you can do about this. There are a few areas where it's possible to avoid the cloud, but in most other areas the choice is either to use the prevalent centralized infrastructure or to not communicate with others.
- gnosis 16y ago
  "in most other areas the choice is either to use the prevalent centralized infrastructure or to not communicate with others" That's the choice now. But it doesn't have to remain that way in the future. The problem is that most people are relatively ignorant about technology and its potential for abuse (especially when they don't guard or value their privacy). Not only is this ignorance not inevitable, but there's every sign that it's decreasing. People are becoming more technologically savvy, and computer literacy is spreading. Along with this, and with the various media exposes on viruses, identity theft, etc.. people are slowly starting to become more security conscious, bit by bit. The main thing that's lacking right now is a strong appreciation for privacy and anonymity. This is especially troubling and prevalent among the youth, who are growing up in a world where so many people's lives are on display on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.. They don't really realize or appreciate how much of what they reveal can come back to haunt them and bite them in the ass in the future: from the potential for stalking, to various abuses of private information by employers, insurers, etc. But, as more and more people get bitten by these sorts of abuses, I think it's inevitable that a greater appreciation for privacy and anonymity will emerge. It may take some time. But the process can be accelerated with deliberate education campaigns and efforts from people who do understand the value of privacy now.
  - yuhong 16y ago
    "They don't really realize or appreciate how much of what they reveal can come back to haunt them and bite them in the ass in the future: from the potential for stalking, to various abuses of private information by employers, insurers, etc." Personally, I don't put much personal info on Facebook. I do post non-anonymously almost all the time though, and want to try to fix some of the problem.
- ppod 16y ago
  "she responded that there's nothing interesting in her mailbox and she doubts anyone is interested in doing so." What is wrong with this response?
  - 16s 16y ago

by gnosis 16y ago

gst 16y ago

I wonder if the public ever will become educated about the value of privacy. A few days ago I've tried to explain a friend who often uses Internet cafes how to use Google's two factor authentication for Gmail. Her answer was: "Why should I do this, this just makes it more complicated". When I explained to her that it prevents other's from being able to read her mails she responded that there's nothing interesting in her mailbox and she doubts anyone is interested in doing so. A decade or so ago I still had hope that tools like PGP/GPG will be widespread amongst the Internet population. But this all completely changed. People who used to use PGP to encrypt their mails and who've used to run their own mailservers because they didn't trust their provider just use GMail today. We're moving from a decentraliced infrastructure to a pure client/server infrastructure and there's not much you can do about this. There are a few areas where it's possible to avoid the cloud, but in most other areas the choice is either to use the prevalent centralized infrastructure or to not communicate with others.

gnosis 16y ago
"in most other areas the choice is either to use the prevalent centralized infrastructure or to not communicate with others" That's the choice now. But it doesn't have to remain that way in the future. The problem is that most people are relatively ignorant about technology and its potential for abuse (especially when they don't guard or value their privacy). Not only is this ignorance not inevitable, but there's every sign that it's decreasing. People are becoming more technologically savvy, and computer literacy is spreading. Along with this, and with the various media exposes on viruses, identity theft, etc.. people are slowly starting to become more security conscious, bit by bit. The main thing that's lacking right now is a strong appreciation for privacy and anonymity. This is especially troubling and prevalent among the youth, who are growing up in a world where so many people's lives are on display on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.. They don't really realize or appreciate how much of what they reveal can come back to haunt them and bite them in the ass in the future: from the potential for stalking, to various abuses of private information by employers, insurers, etc. But, as more and more people get bitten by these sorts of abuses, I think it's inevitable that a greater appreciation for privacy and anonymity will emerge. It may take some time. But the process can be accelerated with deliberate education campaigns and efforts from people who do understand the value of privacy now.
- yuhong 16y ago
  "They don't really realize or appreciate how much of what they reveal can come back to haunt them and bite them in the ass in the future: from the potential for stalking, to various abuses of private information by employers, insurers, etc." Personally, I don't put much personal info on Facebook. I do post non-anonymously almost all the time though, and want to try to fix some of the problem.
ppod 16y ago
"she responded that there's nothing interesting in her mailbox and she doubts anyone is interested in doing so." What is wrong with this response?
- 16s 16y ago