Privacy has become a huge issue. We get free (or cheap) and useful services in return for information about us and the potential uses of this information are becoming more frightening over time. If you don’t have anything to hide you might think this is OK, but what if someday someone will make use of the information you shared to do something you don’t approve of? The problem is that you can’t take it back. You can’t have your information withdrawn to get your privacy again, not even if you give up on the services that you got in return.
So I’ve been wondering if there’s a way, without legal assistance, to create a software mechanism that would allow us to take back our privacy. For example, let’s say I decide to close my Google account. I would like then all the data Google has on me to become undecipherable to them or to anyone else.
Unfortunately my thoughts on this led me to realize that this is a lot like DRM, which has failed miserably so far as people find the keys required to decipher the information eventually. But I’m still wondering whether this could work somehow.
It’s not that complicated:
a. Stop using any central (i.e. “cloud”) services. e.g. Instead of Gmail – run your own MTA.
b. Stop exposing your identity while browsing. You will need to completely disable cookies and such, and use an anonymising network such as Tor.
c. For social networking: Use something like http://hubbub.at/ . This will, of course, not really work, because everyone else is on FB, but if enough people make the switch, maybe someday…
It’s not complicated for us, maybe :)
And I do enjoy the cloud services I’m getting for free, but anyway my intention was that I don’t mind giving up my privacy as long as I know I can have it back sometime in the future, when I feel the price of losing my privacy is too much for what I’m getting in return.
hubbub.at looks interesting, but I stopped participating on Facebook a long time ago, and I don’t intend to go on another social network for now (I do have a blog :)
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20015384-501465.html
Six Ohio state senators have introduced a bill that would compel media organizations to erase stories from the Internet about former convicts whose case records are sealed by the courts.
Very interesting. Thanks!
I thought about this further and I realized that Google, for example, has a content detection mechanism that identifies content even if it’s just playing in the background of a video (by creating a type of signature of the original and comparing to signatures in the video.)
Maybe someday you could be able to have specific content erased even if there are pirated copies of it (e.g. copies that are screen captures). Or at least prevent it from appearing in searches.
I had the chance to work on a couple of machine-learning systems (mostly classification, which is a bit different than what you suggest, but still quite similar) and I can say that these things are devilishly powerful, and I’m pretty sure that once they are in wide-scale deployment they will just serve to limit your privacy much further. It’s just too easy. They can indeed be used to improve privacy, but I doubt this will be their main use.
The most obvious example of how these technologies can be used to limit privacy is that a simple network of cheap cameras can even today give full information of any person’s exact location at any given time he is present in the covered area. Add the ability to see through walls (e.g. http://www.poc.com/emerging_products/lexid/default.asp ) and the whole concept of “privacy” goes more or less down the toilet.
Personally I think there is no escape. Society will simply have to re-adjust to this somehow…
A sad conclusion, but I can’t say I’m optimistic myself.