Privacy as a feature

Without doubt, 2013 was the year our worst fears materialised. The Snowden revelations confirmed what some people already knew and others fantasied. Scary!

Today, I’ve received an email from Lift announcing a new feature: Privacy (see screenshot below).

And it felt like a cold shower - these companies offering ‘free’ services are actually proud of “selling” their customer and they default to ‘everything is public’.

Back in 2010 Mark Zuckerberg said: “the age of privacy is over” and they continue to “improve” their system and put more and more of the users’ private data into the public streams or give it to the 3rd parties.

And now governments are joining the private sector in stealing your data. They use tragic events to push legislation that only serve one purpose - theirs. They are basically showing you the…

Now, the NHS in England is “centralising” the patient data, effectively gathering all the medical records that your GP made over time. And, according to a law passed in 2012, they can ‘make the data available’ to corporations. They say that the “information published will never identify a particular person” but we all know that’s just a step. They are effectively treating their patients as the product to be sold.

Privacy is a concept that is slowing eroding. Our kids will live in a world where privacy is a “feature” and those who desire it will be accused of having something to hide.

Lack of privacy means complete control; and control only leads to dictatorship - be that by one person, party or a 1%.

You own it to your kids to stop bragging about them on Facebook and delete your account. You wouldn’t go around your neighbourhood sticking their pictures everywhere! So why do it online?!