I'm always amused by these "here's how to protect data better" articles, because today's security is tomorrow's joke, and that's how we got here with the OPM ha

I'm always amused by these "here's how to protect data better" articles, because today's security is tomorrow's joke, and that's how we got here with the OPM hack. The only way to get ahead of it is to make it so that all private data is public and thus devalued. Privacy creates liability. Visibility creates value. The problem we have right now is the idea that one entity should have domain over any information. That's what we need to get over. It should be shared- all of it, from bank security cameras down to what you're doing in the shower. When all surveillance is shared, you find that people suddenly get a lot more tolerant, because throwing stones in glass houses isn't helpful. The Earth is a closed system. We have finite, shared resources. Privacy creates the fiction that it's not a closed system. You think that's how the space station works? Is that how you want it to work? No, you want cameras on everything, because if someone decides to experiment with the CO2 scrubbers, it affects everyone. The same is true here on Earth. We're now in an age where one person or company or government can single-handedly change the habitability of the entire planet, such as Exxon did in the 80s. That's dangerous. And meanwhile, there's incredibly valuable, life-saving services and conveniences we can all enjoy if we are open with all our surveillance data. How many lives could be saved or improved if we all had a smartwatch measuring our vitals and our food intake and toilet waste were monitored? That one change could single-handedly resolve most of our healthcare issues in the US. What we really need instead of privacy is complete visibility coupled with a code of conduct that emulates the benefits we expect from privacy. Just because we can see everything doesn't mean we have a right to bother people with what we know. That's the issue we need to address. By all means, check out whomever in the shower, but that doesn't give you a right to interfere with that person's life by commenting on their genitalia. That's the key ingredient we're missing from the privacy conversation. We like privacy because we equate it with civility and thus freedom. If someone doesn't know something, then they can't make you miserable with it. But that doesn't really work anymore. Even if someone doesn't know something, big data techniques can interpolate what it is they're not supposed to know. What you're really signing up for with "privacy" is granting visibility to only a privileged few- the spy agencies, the multinational companies, the hackers, and anyone willing to pay for the information.