On 05/09/2014 06:13 AM, Anthony Papillion wrote:
On May 9, 2014, at 4:42, Ximin Luo <[email protected]> wrote:
On 09/05/14 02:31, Anthony Papillion wrote:
On 05/08/2014 08:23 PM, Doug Schuler wrote:
Realistically we need to develop an entire suite of publicly owned
tools. Could the development and implementation be massively
distributed?
Or is it over? We lost all the other media....
"In just a few short years, starting in 1998, this company has
grown to employ almost 50,000 people worldwide, generated sixty
billion dollars in revenue last year, and has a current market
capitalization of more than 350 billion dollars. Google is not only
the biggest search engine in the world, but along with Youtube (the
second biggest search engine in the world) it also has the largest
video platform, with Chrome the biggest browser, with Gmail the
most widely used e-mail provider, and with Android the biggest
operating system for mobile devices." From: An open letter to
Eric Schmidt: Why we fear Google
I fear we've already lost. I used to think that it would just take
some sort of major scandal to wake people up to the fact that
relinquishing their privacy wasn't such a good idea. Then, I thought,
they'd stand up in outrage and take their privacy back with
pitchforks. Then Snowden showed up and nothing really happened. Most
people didn't actually change the things they do because, well, it's
not convenient.
I see a future where the world, not just the digital world, is divided
into two camps: those who are technically literate and willing to take
the sometimes inconvenient steps to protect their privacy and those
who aren't. The first group will be in the minority but will enjoy
privacy and anonymity while the second group will be pretty much at
the mercy of whoever can figure out how to access their data.
Please stop moaning and do something about it instead.
I don't see it as moaning. If we are going to fight back, we need to
look at reality. The reality us that I can write all the software I
want and I can rah-rah team all day but none of that is going to make
people care or get invested in their own privacy.
I'd really like to see an easy-to-use piece of software that analyzes a
body of text and warns on potential sexism. "Warning: you've been
consistently using female imagery to describe unwanted behavior, and
male imagery for desired behavior. Continue?"
I'm sure I've done it, too. But here's it's particularly distracting,
because there aren't that many steps necessary to help get people
invested in their own privacy:
1) get up from your computer
2) go to where non-technical people are
3) listen to them
4) find the (admittedly small) subset of usable privacy-preserving
software that will fit their needs
5) set it up for them or at least show them how it works
Here's an exercise: fill your subset from #4 with a single piece of
software-- the Tor Browser Bundle. Over the next week keep your ears
peeled for a non-technical user making a joke about Google or the
government knowing what they search for. (This could be a joke in a
conversation about a search term setting off a "flag", what Google knows
about their porn habits, etc.) After the joke, tell them about TBB.
When you get the next joke about being targetted _because_ one is using
Tor, tell them how many people use it. Demonstrate your own casual use
of it. Show them how it can help them be safer when they want to browse
on a wifi connection at a cafe or at the airport.
Showing people who trust you how to use privacy tools on the internet
actually _changes_ the way they talk about privacy. Consequently it will
change the way you think about non-technical users.
-Jonathan
--
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of
list guidelines will get you moderated:
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change
to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at [email protected].
