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Privacy (and anonymity) is worth defending right now precisely because it is under an unprecedented attack. There is a real mania underway for registering and

Privacy (and anonymity) is worth defending right now precisely because it is under an unprecedented attack. There is a real mania underway for registering and identifying users of even humdrum activities like using public transport, for instance. Increasingly, you can not get services, at least not at the best price, without registering all your details and being issued with some silly card to identify you. Yes, there are 'discounts' offered but this just proves the point that there is real pressure to identify everyone at every transaction. In practice, it means in fact a hike in price for those refusing to conform. The Brita example of children not being allowed to drink water without identifying themselves is just the tip of an iceberg.

SagelyGuru 14y ago
Contrast this modern lifestyle with those terrible dark ages, when you could put a few gold coins into your purse, jump on your horse and ride to anywhere without a passport, without any idetification or documents whatsoever, without worrying about exchange rates. You could give or not give your name as and when you pleased and still get courteous services and make purchases with your gold anywhere in the whole world. A lot has changed since those days and, I would argue, not for the better in this respect.
- tomkarlo 14y ago
  If you really believe that was a better time to live in, there's some third-world countries that still operate that way. But it's pretty rough going when you have 1. no credit and 2. no distance communication, just to name two basic issues enabled by better identity management.
  - SagelyGuru 14y ago
    Poverty, though a real problem, is an orthogonal issue to this. You are right though that debt creation and 'identity management' go together. Interestingly, these dirt poor people who are not 'indentity managed' have better balance sheets (standing at zero) than your average US college graduate.
    - tomkarlo 14y ago
      I actually only was referring to the lack of infrastructure, not the poverty (although the two generally go hand in hand, because per-capita GDP is driven by the level of infrastructure investment.) As for balance sheets, that's why you don't assess company values based on their balance sheets alone. It's better to have a somewhat negative balance sheet and strong income potential than a zero balance sheet and 1/10th the future income. We complain a lot here in the US about how terrible things are, but we still have something like 10X the per-cap GDP of much of the world.

SagelyGuru 14y ago

Contrast this modern lifestyle with those terrible dark ages, when you could put a few gold coins into your purse, jump on your horse and ride to anywhere without a passport, without any idetification or documents whatsoever, without worrying about exchange rates. You could give or not give your name as and when you pleased and still get courteous services and make purchases with your gold anywhere in the whole world. A lot has changed since those days and, I would argue, not for the better in this respect.

tomkarlo 14y ago
If you really believe that was a better time to live in, there's some third-world countries that still operate that way. But it's pretty rough going when you have 1. no credit and 2. no distance communication, just to name two basic issues enabled by better identity management.
- SagelyGuru 14y ago
  Poverty, though a real problem, is an orthogonal issue to this. You are right though that debt creation and 'identity management' go together. Interestingly, these dirt poor people who are not 'indentity managed' have better balance sheets (standing at zero) than your average US college graduate.
  - tomkarlo 14y ago
    I actually only was referring to the lack of infrastructure, not the poverty (although the two generally go hand in hand, because per-capita GDP is driven by the level of infrastructure investment.) As for balance sheets, that's why you don't assess company values based on their balance sheets alone. It's better to have a somewhat negative balance sheet and strong income potential than a zero balance sheet and 1/10th the future income. We complain a lot here in the US about how terrible things are, but we still have something like 10X the per-cap GDP of much of the world.