What I’m reading: Privacy, security, pervasive technology and society
I’ve been thinking about pervasive technology, society, macroeconomics, the Internet, control, our environment, our mass delusions surrounding privacy, and the efficacy of voting this morning. They’re seemingly unconnected, and yet very connected.
I like to think that I am an above-average user of technology by American standards. And yet, if I am overwhelmed by the sheer knowledge of networks, software and hardware that is becoming required in our digital age, what implications does this have for the less savvy, if not downright technophobic among us?
And from a social justice and social control perspective: Who keeps the keys, who can get them, what rules do we draw about using them, and hell, could we even enforce those rules anyway?
The sheer powerlessness we all have compared to this faceless, mindless, multi-headed, and inherently ethics-free technical beast1 has me feeling disenfranchised, disenchanted, disaffected, and discombobulated by it all.
Join me in my mood, won’t you? Here’s what I’ve read recently(-ish) that has me wanting to move to some remote, uninhabited, no-tech island.
- Malwebolence
- The New York Times Magazine looks at the culture of internet trolls and online harassment. A few paragraphs seem like a crock of bullsh*t from a movie script somewhere. And yet, maybe it was real and knowing or not knowing is part of the point.
- Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing
- Adam Greenfield’s look at the ethical, social and moral issues surrounding pervasive and ubiquitous computing. My main thought while reading this was “Where are we going to find the energy for this always-on network of interlinked technologies and at what economic and environmental cost?” I had more thoughts that focused on the social justice implications of ubicomp too, but the sustainability concern loomed largest.
- Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Test Your ISP
Our aim is to ensure that the Internet community has the tools and organization to quickly recognize when ISPs engage in interference or protocol discrimination in the future.
- Travelers’ Laptops May Be Detained At Border
Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Of interest? Truecrypt- A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present
- A look at the history of the United States in a way that centers the experiences of non-rich, non-capitalist, non-white, non-Christian and/or non-male people. This book really changed my perspective on what it means to be a citizen of the United States and the steady stream of propaganda we’re fed, even by “liberal” media outlets.
- Your Privacy Is An Illusion: Privacy advocates nearly publish guide to carjacking Google executive
- Well, it is an illusion, particularly as technology becomes more pervasive and more entrenched in our lives.2 The comments are particularly fun.
- OSS voices must be heard in national security debate
- A FASCINATING review of Christine Peterson’′s OSCON 2008 presentation / opinion piece by Ryan Paul of Ars Technica on the role of open source developers and the security of our technical infrastructure.
Resistance, however, is not enough. In order to overcome such challenges, technology enthusiasts must find better ways to address the underlying problems that seemingly necessitate the faulty solutions.
- Objection
- Firefox extension for deleting Flash’s Local Shared Objects or “Flash Cookies.” Did you know Flash stored those? And that merely deleting your cookies doesn’t delete this data? And how many web sites do you visit every day that serve rich media ads? Yeah. Install this one.
Possibly related
- Who do you trust more: Corporations or Government?
- Yahoo! Mash: an interesting exercise in trust and control
- Why I went private on Twitter
- Recommended: “SNS visibility norms (a response to Scoble)”
- Ethics, friendships and Flickr (or “Why I don”t drink around some folks”)
- Recommended: Jeremy Keith’s “Lock up your data”
- Is Google evil?
1 Yes, I realize that computers can only do what we tell them to do. But as anyone who uses technology knows, engineers, designers, and developers have a mediocre track record with regards to the ethical, moral, social, privacy, and security concerns of the technology they (we) build. And with any technology, people will use it in unexpected, even malevolent ways.
2 Honestly, whatever notion of privacy that existed in a pre-tech world really hinges on obscurity and the footwork someone is willing to put in. Birth records? Property records? Tax returns? Your friends, enemies, and associates? It’s all there for the aggregating.