Every privacy concession in history has been permanent
4 hours ago
- #privacy
- #cybersecurity
- #surveillance
- Privacy concessions in history have been permanent, leading to continuous erosion of privacy.
- Discussions at ETH Boulder and ETH Denver highlighted divided opinions on privacy, with some viewing it as impractical and advocating for compromises like backdoors and compliance hooks.
- The argument for compromising on privacy is flawed as it ignores the historical trajectory of privacy erosion and the shifting baseline syndrome.
- Historical examples like the Bank Secrecy Act, Patriot Act, and FISA Section 702 show how privacy has been systematically dismantled.
- The current surveillance infrastructure is the largest in human history, used for control, influence, and prediction, often abused by governments and corporations.
- Centralized data collection is inherently insecure, with frequent breaches exposing sensitive information to malicious actors.
- Backdoors and weakened privacy measures, like those demanded by governments, often become vulnerabilities exploited by adversaries.
- The author advocates for no more compromises on privacy, emphasizing its essential role in a free society.
- A mock debate at the conferences reinforced the importance of standing firm on privacy, with the author's side winning.
- The call to action is for more people to join the conversation and support efforts to protect privacy in the digital age.