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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

by 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
  Email is the primary medium for lost password recovery. If someone else gets access to her email account, they have access to most of her other accounts as well. If she understood this, she would show more concern for two factor authentication.
  - Lost_BiomedE 16y ago
    Sorry, a bit off-topic, but is using https enough or is two factor preferable. I use two factor in LastPass but only https log on in gmail.
    - jonburs 16y ago
      It depends on the attack vector you're trying to protect against. If you're on a machine you control (e.g., a personal laptop) and can vouch for its security -- that is, you're sure there's no kind of spyware installed -- https should be sufficient protection when connecting on public networks (especially open wireless connections). Two-factor auth, on the other hand, protects you when you can't guarantee the security of the machine you're using -- someone able to capture the logon sequence won't be able to replay it at a later point in time. Note that two-factor auth without https isn't clearly of huge benefit, as an attacker with access to your network may be able to capture the session token (e.g., through firesheep or similar tools).
      - Lost_BiomedE 16y ago
        Thank You, that clears it up for me. I don't think I am able to upvote you, or haven't figured it out. Maybe someone else will, for your kindness and time.
- jfm3 16y ago
there 16y ago
I wonder if the public ever will become educated about the value of privacy. a lot of people became aware that they could be tracked down for downloading movies and mp3s because of all the lawsuits. perhaps it will take a few (more) lawsuits or criminal cases where prosecutors use data retrieved from google or facebook before people realize they are voluntarily putting a lot of data out there that could come back to bite them in the ass.

by gst 16y ago

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
Email is the primary medium for lost password recovery. If someone else gets access to her email account, they have access to most of her other accounts as well. If she understood this, she would show more concern for two factor authentication.
- Lost_BiomedE 16y ago
  Sorry, a bit off-topic, but is using https enough or is two factor preferable. I use two factor in LastPass but only https log on in gmail.
  - jonburs 16y ago
    It depends on the attack vector you're trying to protect against. If you're on a machine you control (e.g., a personal laptop) and can vouch for its security -- that is, you're sure there's no kind of spyware installed -- https should be sufficient protection when connecting on public networks (especially open wireless connections). Two-factor auth, on the other hand, protects you when you can't guarantee the security of the machine you're using -- someone able to capture the logon sequence won't be able to replay it at a later point in time. Note that two-factor auth without https isn't clearly of huge benefit, as an attacker with access to your network may be able to capture the session token (e.g., through firesheep or similar tools).
    - Lost_BiomedE 16y ago
      Thank You, that clears it up for me. I don't think I am able to upvote you, or haven't figured it out. Maybe someone else will, for your kindness and time.
jfm3 16y ago

there 16y ago

I wonder if the public ever will become educated about the value of privacy. a lot of people became aware that they could be tracked down for downloading movies and mp3s because of all the lawsuits. perhaps it will take a few (more) lawsuits or criminal cases where prosecutors use data retrieved from google or facebook before people realize they are voluntarily putting a lot of data out there that could come back to bite them in the ass.