[gmw]

This article: Trading Privacy for Convenience is nine years old now but still seems relevant (obviously it's missing the new ways we've chosen to donate our data):

If the government demanded that we all carry tracking devices 24/7, we would rebel. Yet we all carry cell phones. If the government demanded that we deposit copies of all of our messages to each other with the police, we’d declare their actions unconstitutional. Yet we all use Gmail and Facebook messaging and SMS. If the government demanded that we give them access to all the photographs we take, and that we identify all of the people in them and tag them with locations, we’d refuse. Yet we do exactly that on Flickr and other sites.

Taken from the bottom of that short post is this link to a YouTube video from The Onion. Worth a look just for the laugh.


And why should you care? This 2008 article (also from Bruce Schneier) offers:

There is no security without privacy. And liberty requires both security and privacy. The famous quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin reads: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” It’s also true that those who would give up privacy for security are likely to end up with neither.

As I noted earlier, for me privacy is not so much about my personal need as it is the social impact. I want a society where privacy is the default, not one where privacy is a constant struggle.