[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Dilbert Frequent Victims Club

[Paul G]

Hi,

Yes, there was a lot of forethought years ago, but now, with the rather
"run amuck" data aggregators, it's time to revisit all this.

A number of governmental (and other) agencies are already aware that these
companies are entirely out of control.  See:

   - Data Brokers Need Reining In, and the FTC Needs the Authority to Do It
   - Tech Policy at Intel
   <https://blogs.intel.com/policy/2019/04/22/data-brokers-need-reining-in-and-the-ftc-needs-the-authority-to-do-it/>

   - FTC Recommends Congress Require the Data Broker Industry to be More
   Transparent and Give Consumers Greater Control Over Their Personal
   Information | Federal Trade Commission
   <https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/05/ftc-recommends-congress-require-data-broker-industry-be-more>
[this
   was in 2014]


Here are two (somewhat?) famous people working on the data privacy issues,
but not all that much has gotten done (i.e. either implemented or legal,
AFAIK) as yet, except maybe in a few states:

   - Tim Berners-Lee startup launches privacy-focused service to secure
   your data - CNET
   <https://www.cnet.com/news/tim-berners-lee-startup-launches-privacy-focused-service-to-secure-your-data/>

   - Butler Lampson - Personal Control of Your Data - Google Photos
   <https://photos.app.goo.gl/KMSFAfbTfzaY539s7>
    [I went to this talk on my way home on June 28, 2017 at the (Gehry
   designed) MIT Stata Center
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_and_Maria_Stata_Center>;
      a few of us took Butler <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_Lampson> to
   dinner afterward at Legal Sea Foods (Kendall Sq.)
   <https://www.legalseafoods.com/restaurants/cambridge-kendall-square-97>;
      while Butler's name may not be widely known outside of the Computer
   Science community,
      one of his projects at Xerox
   <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h33A-KWJKDQ> was what inspired Steve
   Jobs to eventually create the Macintosh]


Having looked at the current state of "Google yourself", I find a mish-mash
of amalgamated, but unverified data all thrown together by some of these
data aggregators, like the past 10 people who lived at my house and
whatnot.  Sometimes disconcerting stuff too, but much of it lost in a
morass of inaccurate info.  Of course, I may not want to have too much
accurate info. out there!  Trouble is that without reining them in, these
aggregators will simply amass more information, and maybe attempt to use AI
techniques to make it more accurate (which is in their interest, but maybe
not yours!).

Also, you have little privacy in public these days with a zillion public
and private video cameras everywhere (for better or worse), so smile!


Paul


On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 10:16 PM Michael Alexander <mna.ma at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Around 1965, Columbia Professor Alan Westin published a book about
> computers and privacy.  At the time, large computerized databases were
> being built – the Social Security Administration and the Census Bureau were
> among the pioneers, but private entities were certain to follow suit.  So
> Westin’s book was widely reviewed and discussed.
>
> I talked about Westin’s book with my father, a prominent computer
> scientist.  He remarked, “It’s very simple. You pass tough privacy laws,
> and if someone breaks the law, you throw him into prison.  Did that ever
> turn out to be premature!  (If his view should ever be vindicated, will
> he be hailed as a seer?)!
>
> Then, in a moment of candor and hauteur:
>
> "You have zero privacy <https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Privacy> anyway.
> Get over it."
>
>    – Scott McNealy (Sun Microsystems chief executive, 1/26/1999)
>
> That was a brief moment of honesty from the “tech” industry.
>
>     – Mike Alexander
>
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