Are Expectations of Privacy Age-Related?

Are Expectations of Privacy Age-Related?

An interesting split is becoming obvious in computing today; older people (among them those who were instrumental in empowering computing and the modern web), are increasingly worried about privacy, while younger people (those who’ve been exposed both to the weband on it—for most of their lives) seem to be far less interested in privacy issues, tending to view the web as a vehicle for social interaction, even if that social interaction involves losing control of their personal privacy altogether.

This emerging difference becomes glaringly clear in the brief comments in this TechnologyReview.com article. For example, Mena Trott, president and cofounder of Six Apart in San Francisco, says: “With the popularity of blogging and online video and photo sharing, we already know that people want to publish significant portions of their lives online. In 10 years, I can easily see someone putting 75 percent of their day online. But it won’t all be public.”

In contrast, Bjarne Stroustrup, Professor at Texas A&M University and designer of the C++ programming language, says that within five or ten years we can expect “The total end of privacy. Governments, politicians, criminals, and friends will trawl through years of accumulated data (ours and what others collected) with unbelievably sophisticated tools. Obscurity and time passed will no longer be covers.”

Even Richard Stallman, the foremost advocate of open source, isn’t really interested in open-sourcing people’s private data, saying: “I see a danger in the Web today: doing your computing on servers running software you can’t change or study, and entrusting your data to U.S. companies required to give it to Big Brother without even a search warrant. Don’t risk this practice!”

The problem, as I suspect many older people see it, is that collusion between businesses (those license agreements that give businesses the right to have “associated businesses” access your data) and between businesses and government effectively makes a lie out of assurances such as Trott’s that “it won’t be all public.” The opposite of public is “private,” but what is private when ISPs and governments can search through every request, every post, every email, every IM transmission, and every digital phone conversation you have? Is it private just because your neighbors and friends can’t see it? Ben Franklin wrote: “Three may keep a secret, if two are dead.” That statement’s just as true today as it was when Franklin wrote it. Do you really trust people with your private information? If so, why? People with access to secrets not only tend to misuse them, but also share them with others. Even at the business level, recent research suggests that a large number of those with access (network administrators) look at information they’re not supposed to be viewing.

It’s bad enough when you first truly understand that your recent data is not private. But now, imagine a world in which every faux pas you’ve ever committed can be discovered, resurrected and perhaps used against you.

Remember when you once posted those pictures of you at that graduation party in Maui? Now you’re applying for a job at a company owned by a conservative Christian business network. Too bad. Rejected.

Remember that IM conversation you and your buddy had one evening about your career choices, where you said you never wanted to get put into the position of having to fire large numbers of employees? Now you’re up for a promotion, but you have to be willing to wield the corporate axe. Oops, guess you won’t get it.

The plain and simple fact is that there is no real privacy in digital data. There never was any complete and total privacy, of course, but there was a strong probability of privacy, because private data was difficult to access and search. Most paper-based data was filed in a single location, and access was typically restricted to people with good reasons to look. Even published information reached only subscribers, or those willing to spend the time manually scanning library copies. Moreover, much private data simply disappeared after a period of time. Records of childhood legal infractions were sealed. Financial records were destroyed after seven years. People threw away letters when you were no longer a part of their lives. And some communications were too difficult to monitor. Phone calls from public telephones were essentially anonymous. Conversations with a journalist were once considered unassailably private. None of that is true any longer—Stroustrup is correct in saying that obscurity and time passed will no longer be covers. The things you say, the places you go, the items you buy, the food you eat, the pages you visit—these combine to create an electronic trail that employers, governments, businesses, or any sufficiently interested and well-financed person can use to discover things about you that you might not want known.

When confronted with this fact, the enemies of privacy typically argue that there’s no reason to hide anything you’ve done unless you’ve done something wrong that others should know about; that hiding information is tantamount to lying, and that in this age of terrorism, everyone has a right to know everything about you, particularly your government. That argument should sound familiar to those who remember the 1950’s witchhunts.

But being able to outlast every tiny personal truth gives you the ability to become the person you’d like to be, rather than the person you were in the past. Americans have long believed in (or at least given lip service to) second chances. We love hearing about the gang member who gets his GED in prison, and goes on to become a successful business executive. We love stories about the prostitute with a heart of gold who marries the millionaire.

Conversely, the inability to obscure every tiny personal fact can make you now and forever the least appealing person you’ve ever been. The one who gave into temptation, who stole, lied, cheated—who failed in some way, perhaps even in a way that, at the time, wasn’t considered a failure. For example, you might have voted for the “wrong” person for President, and mentioned it to your mother in an email, or written it proudly on your FaceBook page. A partisan administration might hold that against you.

On the other hand, perhaps most humans can see beyond the peccadilloes of people’s pasts—particularly when their own mistakes are equally open to scrutiny. Perhaps the stigma of indiscretions currently held private will disappear, when it’s no longer possible to hide them. Perhaps the total honesty engendered by “life searching” will create better, or at least more tolerant people. (I’m skeptical myself, but one can always hope.)

So is this generational divide in the approach to privacy due to accumulated wisdom, or is it due to aging pessimism? What do you think?

devx-admin

devx-admin

Share the Post:
Razer Discount

Unbelievable Razer Blade 17 Discount

On September 24, 2023, it was reported that Razer, a popular brand in the premium gaming laptop industry, is offering an exceptional deal on their

Innovation Ignition

New Fintech Innovation Ignites Change

The fintech sector continues to attract substantial interest, as demonstrated by a dedicated fintech stage at a recent event featuring panel discussions and informal conversations

Import Easing

Easing Import Rules for Big Tech

India has chosen to ease its proposed restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets, and other IT hardware, allowing manufacturers like Apple Inc., HP Inc., and

Anthropic Investment

Amazon’s Bold Anthropic Investment

On Monday, Amazon announced its plan to invest up to $4 billion in the AI firm Anthropic, acquiring a minority stake in the process. This

Razer Discount

Unbelievable Razer Blade 17 Discount

On September 24, 2023, it was reported that Razer, a popular brand in the premium gaming laptop industry, is offering an exceptional deal on their Razer Blade 17 model. Typically

Innovation Ignition

New Fintech Innovation Ignites Change

The fintech sector continues to attract substantial interest, as demonstrated by a dedicated fintech stage at a recent event featuring panel discussions and informal conversations with industry professionals. The gathering,

Import Easing

Easing Import Rules for Big Tech

India has chosen to ease its proposed restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets, and other IT hardware, allowing manufacturers like Apple Inc., HP Inc., and Dell Technologies Inc. more time

Semiconductor Stock Plummet

Dramatic Downturn in Semiconductor Stocks Looms

Recent events show that the S&P Semiconductors Select Industry Index seems to be experiencing a downturn, which could result in a decline in semiconductor stocks. Known as a key indicator

Anthropic Investment

Amazon’s Bold Anthropic Investment

On Monday, Amazon announced its plan to invest up to $4 billion in the AI firm Anthropic, acquiring a minority stake in the process. This decision demonstrates Amazon’s commitment to

AI Experts Get Hired

Tech Industry Rehiring Wave: AI Experts Wanted

A few months ago, Big Tech companies were downsizing their workforce, but currently, many are considering rehiring some of these employees, especially in popular fields such as artificial intelligence. The

Lagos Migration

Middle-Class Migration: Undermining Democracy?

As the middle class in Lagos, Nigeria, increasingly migrates to private communities, a PhD scholar from a leading technology institute has been investigating the impact of this development on democratic

AI Software Development

ChatGPT is Now Making Video Games

Pietro Schirano’s foray into using ChatGPT, an AI tool for programming, has opened up new vistas in game and software development. As design lead at business finance firm Brex, Schirano

Llama Codebot

Developers! Here’s Your Chatbot

Meta Platforms has recently unveiled Code Llama, a free chatbot designed to aid developers in crafting coding scripts. This large language model (LLM), developed using Meta’s Llama 2 model, serves

Tech Layoffs

Unraveling the Tech Sector’s Historic Job Losses

Throughout 2023, the tech sector has experienced a record-breaking number of job losses, impacting tens of thousands of workers across various companies, including well-established corporations and emerging startups in areas

Chinese 5G Limitation

Germany Considers Limiting Chinese 5G Tech

A recent report has put forth the possibility that Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community may consider limiting the use of Chinese 5G technology by local network providers

Modern Warfare

The Barak Tank is Transforming Modern Warfare

The Barak tank is a groundbreaking addition to the Israeli Defense Forces’ arsenal, significantly enhancing their combat capabilities. This AI-powered military vehicle is expected to transform the way modern warfare

AI Cheating Growth

AI Plagiarism Challenges Shake Academic Integrity

As generative AI technologies like ChatGPT become increasingly prevalent among students and raise concerns about widespread cheating, prominent universities have halted their use of AI detection software, such as Turnitin’s

US Commitment

US Approves Sustainable Battery Research

The US Department of Energy has revealed a $325 million commitment in the research of innovative battery types, designed to enable solar and wind power as continuous, 24-hour energy sources.

Netanyahu Musk AI

Netanyahu and Musk Discuss AI Future

On September 22, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with entrepreneur Elon Musk in San Francisco prior to attending the United Nations. In a live-streamed discussion, Netanyahu lauded Musk

Urban Gardening

Creating Thriving Cities Through Urban Gardening

The rising popularity of urban gardening is receiving increased recognition for its numerous advantages, as demonstrated in a recent study featured in the Environmental Research Letters journal. Carried out by

What You Need to Know About Cloud Security Strategies

What You Need to Know About Cloud Security Strategies

Today, many businesses are adopting cloud computing services. As a result, it’s important to recognize that security measures for data in the cloud are different from those in traditional on-premises

Romanian Energy Security

Eastern Europe is Achieving Energy Security

Canada and Romania have solidified their commitment to energy security and independence from Russian energy exports by signing a $3-billion export development agreement. The deal is centered on constructing two

Seamless Integration

Unlocking Seamless Smart Home Integration

The vision of an intelligently organized and interconnected smart home that conserves time, energy, and resources has long been desired by many homeowners. However, this aspiration has often been hindered

New Algorithm

MicroAlgo’s Groundbreaking Algorithm

MicroAlgo Inc. has revealed the creation of a knowledge-augmented backtracking search algorithm, developed through extensive research in evolutionary computational techniques. The algorithm is designed to boost problem-solving effectiveness, precision, and

Poland Energy Future

Westinghouse Builds Polish Power Plant

Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel have come together to establish a formal partnership in order to design and construct Poland’s inaugural nuclear power plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Pomerania.

EV Labor Market

EV Industry Hurting For Skilled Labor

The United Auto Workers strike has highlighted the anticipated change towards a future dominated by electric vehicles (EVs), a shift which numerous people think will result in job losses. However,