It's said that we've sold our soul to the Google overlords. And most of us have resigned ourselves to the probability that anything we've done or are doing leaves a digital footprint and that the Google and Facebook and Amazon and Apple and ... have access to it. And will sell it to the highest bidder. And many accept this as the price for being connected.
The privacy conversation took on a new and interesting dimension when a couple of days ago Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, said in an opinion piece in the New York Times,
"the company is so big and powerful that it threatens our democracy".
The opinion piece is a must read.
It's Time to Break Up Facebook
The New York Times
" ..,
We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American.
It is time to break up Facebook.
We already have the tools we need to check the domination of Facebook. We just seem to have forgotten about them.
... "
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/opinion/sunday/chris-hughes-facebook-zuckerberg.html
And Zuckerberg's response is troubling.
"
Zuckerberg says breaking up Facebook “isn’t going to help”. With the look of someone betrayed, Facebook’s CEO has fired back at co-founder Chris Hughes and his brutal NYT op-ed calling for regulators to split up Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
“When I read what he wrote, my main reaction was that what he’s proposing that we do isn’t going to do anything to help solve those issues. So I think that if what you care about is democracy and elections, then you want a company like us to be able to invest billions of dollars per year like we are in building up really advanced tools to fight election interference” Zuckerberg told France Info while in Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.
..."
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/11/zuckerberg-responds-to-hughes/
https://twitter.com/reckless/status/1127273582621548545
This reminded me of a talk I had seen by journalist Glenn Greenwald who shot to prominence with the Edward Snowden files and on reviewing, I realized that what Mr. Greenwald talked about over 4 years ago (Oct 2014) is even more relevant today.
Why privacy matters
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald was one of the first reporters to see -- and write about -- the Edward Snowden files, with their revelations about the United States' extensive surveillance of private citizens. In this searing talk, Greenwald makes the case for why you need to care about privacy, even if you're "not doing anything you need to hide."
My take is that whether we accept it or not, we need to be aware of what's at stake and decide and think about, "Is what we are getting in return for selling our souls worth it ? Or not. And if not, what's the solution ?"
The privacy conversation took on a new and interesting dimension when a couple of days ago Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, said in an opinion piece in the New York Times,
"the company is so big and powerful that it threatens our democracy".
The opinion piece is a must read.
It's Time to Break Up Facebook
The New York Times
" ..,
We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American.
It is time to break up Facebook.
We already have the tools we need to check the domination of Facebook. We just seem to have forgotten about them.
... "
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/opinion/sunday/chris-hughes-facebook-zuckerberg.html
And Zuckerberg's response is troubling.
"
Zuckerberg says breaking up Facebook “isn’t going to help”. With the look of someone betrayed, Facebook’s CEO has fired back at co-founder Chris Hughes and his brutal NYT op-ed calling for regulators to split up Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
“When I read what he wrote, my main reaction was that what he’s proposing that we do isn’t going to do anything to help solve those issues. So I think that if what you care about is democracy and elections, then you want a company like us to be able to invest billions of dollars per year like we are in building up really advanced tools to fight election interference” Zuckerberg told France Info while in Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.
..."
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/11/zuckerberg-responds-to-hughes/
https://twitter.com/reckless/status/1127273582621548545
This reminded me of a talk I had seen by journalist Glenn Greenwald who shot to prominence with the Edward Snowden files and on reviewing, I realized that what Mr. Greenwald talked about over 4 years ago (Oct 2014) is even more relevant today.
Why privacy matters
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald was one of the first reporters to see -- and write about -- the Edward Snowden files, with their revelations about the United States' extensive surveillance of private citizens. In this searing talk, Greenwald makes the case for why you need to care about privacy, even if you're "not doing anything you need to hide."
My take is that whether we accept it or not, we need to be aware of what's at stake and decide and think about, "Is what we are getting in return for selling our souls worth it ? Or not. And if not, what's the solution ?"
No comments:
Post a Comment