The main problem in this space is the mass storage and processing of data, and I think naming that "privacy" is causing some semantic troubles. Privacy advocates should better communicate that...
The main problem in this space is the mass storage and processing of data, and I think naming that "privacy" is causing some semantic troubles. Privacy advocates should better communicate that fact, the fact that having nothing to hide does not mean you are invulnerable to data barons.
It is not novel that huge amounts of personal data is stored by commercial and statal institutions. The novel things are 1) the extent of data to which these institutions have acces to, and 2) the processing power that makes weaponising such data against their sources viable and even easy.
What makes privacy such a big deal is that once data is stored by some entity, it is really difficult to preemptively disallow the malicious exploitation of it. But, for society to function, personal data needs to be stored, of customers and of citizens. So the most prominent issue is minimising the amount of data stored. Privacy tools and an awareness about the topic of privacy is the best counter-weapons we have.
But we should tell people: it is not about what companies/states know, it is about what they store and what they do with it. Otherwise people with nothing to hide will not bother, nor those with something to hide.
The main problem in this space is the mass storage and processing of data, and I think naming that "privacy" is causing some semantic troubles. Privacy advocates should better communicate that fact, the fact that having nothing to hide does not mean you are invulnerable to data barons.
It is not novel that huge amounts of personal data is stored by commercial and statal institutions. The novel things are 1) the extent of data to which these institutions have acces to, and 2) the processing power that makes weaponising such data against their sources viable and even easy.
What makes privacy such a big deal is that once data is stored by some entity, it is really difficult to preemptively disallow the malicious exploitation of it. But, for society to function, personal data needs to be stored, of customers and of citizens. So the most prominent issue is minimising the amount of data stored. Privacy tools and an awareness about the topic of privacy is the best counter-weapons we have.
But we should tell people: it is not about what companies/states know, it is about what they store and what they do with it. Otherwise people with nothing to hide will not bother, nor those with something to hide.