[Air-l] ethics - aol data

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

a few minor points that some will disagree with....

a. privacy is a fiction of modernity that arose fairly recently in  
history, but rhetorically and ideologically it has its uses.
b. any data that is outside of the human mind is insecure and hard to  
keep secret, not less keep private.  the situation is worse when the  
data is mobile, or networked.
c. most people in the developed world have already in some form or  
another by license or contract signed away whatever privacy that they  
had in their use of the internet.
d. only those people with sufficient technical knowledge to go to  
extreme lengths to ensure their privacy and operate only with trusted  
colleagues really have any security, but they have no guarantees.

if you don't believe me, I have this presentation that i make showing  
most of the above points fairly thoroughly....  some people have  
called it 'scary', some have said it was 'enlightening'...  i'm happy  
to give this presentation... granted it says nothing new..., but it  
says a basic truth...

e. you should not operate under the assumption of privacy, anonymity,  
or security when using the internet.

f. given all that, there are still best practices for data privacy  
and security.

my thought is that aol might have actually woke some people up....  
that is a good thing.


jeremy hunsinger
Assistant Professor
Pratt Institute
www.cddc.vt.edu
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