Yesterday I wrote on the “ideal” of privacy in our modern world – this morning I read some further information related to this topic (acknowledgement to Robert Cringely as the jumping-off point for this post). If one wants to invest the time, money or both – there are ways to keep your data safe. Really, really safe. The first is the digital equivalent of a Swiss bank account – and yes, it’s also offered by the Swiss – deep inside a mountain bunker – away from the prying eyes of NSA, MI6 and other inquisitive types. Article is here. The other method is a new encryption method that basically offers ‘red herrings’ to would-be password hackers: let them think they have cracked your password, but feed them fake data instead of your real stuff – described here.
Now either of these ‘methods’ requires the user to take proactive steps, and spend time/money. The unfortunate, but real, truth of today’s digital environment is that you – and only you – must take responsibility for the security and integrity of your data. The more security you desire, the more effort you must expend. No one will do it for you (for free) – and those that offer… well, you get the idea. A long time ago one could live in a village and not lock your front door… not any more.
However, before spiraling down a depressive slope of digital angst – there are some facets to consider: even though it is highly likely (as in actually positively for certain…) that far more of your private life is exposed and stored in the BigData bunkers of Walmart, Amazon, ClearChannel, Facebook or some government… so are the details of a billion other users… There is anonymity in the sheer volume of data. The important thing to remember is that if you really become a ‘person of interest’ – to some intelligence agency, a particularly zealous advertiser, etc. – almost nothing can stop the accumulation of information about you and your activities. However, most people don’t fit this profile. You’re just a drop of water in a very large digital ocean. Relax and float on the waves…
Understanding helps: nothing is free. Ever. So if come to know that the ‘price’ you pay for the ‘free’ Google search engine that solves your trivia questions, settles arguments amongst your children, or allows you to complete your next research project in a fraction of the time that would otherwise be necessary is the ‘donation’ of some information about what you search for, when, how often, etc. – then maybe you can see this as fair payment. After all, the data centers that power the Google search ‘engine’ are ginormous, hugely expensive to build and massively expensive to run – they tend to be located close to power generating sources as the amount of electricity consumed is so large. Ultimately someone has to pay the power bill…
Parasam 