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I trust the moral judgement of the average government worker more than I do the moral judgement of the average Big Tech worker or CEO, but I trust the technical

by Mezzie 5y ago

I trust the moral judgement of the average government worker more than I do the moral judgement of the average Big Tech worker or CEO, but I trust the technical competence of the Big Tech workers more. I expect the government to try to protect my information from everyone except for themselves, but fail to account for what I consider basic security practices. I expect Big Tech to be safer from malicious hacks and tech exploits, but they'll sell my info to the highest bidder. Basically one is an unlocked but well-guarded warehouse and one is a warehouse that requires 50 keys to open and is on the ocean floor but the warehouse company also runs key-stamping and submarine businesses.

cmrdporcupine 5y ago
Sure, I agree, I think you basically restated what my proposition. The key thing is that we can fix the technical problems in government. But the privacy failures of the private sector are built into the predominant business models of the tech sector itself and harder to fix. (Full disclosure, I worked in ads for many years before walking away in disgust) I should say that -- coming off a 10 year stint at Google -- Google takes PII super seriously and does a very good job of protecting it technically and organizationally. I'm sure most other BigTechs do, too. But clearly this data, people's private data and models of behaviour etc based on that, is a major source of revenue in our industry. Another point on this topic: Governments and do act with malice to their populations in some situations, but in general Canadians have higher expectations of, and higher trust for, their government than Americans seem to on the whole. Hence our single payer health system and the classic motto of 'Peace, Order, and Good Government' which characterizes our commonwealth vs the 'Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness' etc. of the American Republic.
labawi 5y ago
To be fair, that only applies to big tech and some fraction of non-tech companies. The rest have a fairly cavalier attitude towards computer security.
t0suj4 5y ago
How do you think the circumstances and motivations of a government employee differ from those of a CEO?

by Mezzie 5y ago

cmrdporcupine 5y ago

Sure, I agree, I think you basically restated what my proposition. The key thing is that we can fix the technical problems in government. But the privacy failures of the private sector are built into the predominant business models of the tech sector itself and harder to fix. (Full disclosure, I worked in ads for many years before walking away in disgust) I should say that -- coming off a 10 year stint at Google -- Google takes PII super seriously and does a very good job of protecting it technically and organizationally. I'm sure most other BigTechs do, too. But clearly this data, people's private data and models of behaviour etc based on that, is a major source of revenue in our industry. Another point on this topic: Governments and do act with malice to their populations in some situations, but in general Canadians have higher expectations of, and higher trust for, their government than Americans seem to on the whole. Hence our single payer health system and the classic motto of 'Peace, Order, and Good Government' which characterizes our commonwealth vs the 'Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness' etc. of the American Republic.

labawi 5y ago

To be fair, that only applies to big tech and some fraction of non-tech companies. The rest have a fairly cavalier attitude towards computer security.

t0suj4 5y ago

How do you think the circumstances and motivations of a government employee differ from those of a CEO?