Haunted by data

Khoi shared an insightful piece by technologist Vicki Boykis, titled things to think about when using Facebook.

“It’s very sad that a social network that’s done so much good is also the single worst thing about the internet, but until people leave the platform or apply some kind of economic pressure on it, nothing will change.”

A particular reference in Vicki’s article stood out — Haunted By Data, a 2015 keynote by Pinboard founder Maciej Ceglowski at data conference Strata + Hadoop.

Embedded below. Worth watching.

Maciej has argued there should be law that limits behavioural data collection to 90 days. Definitely. It’s just wrong that massively detailed personal profiles are passed from organisation to organisation with no accountability over what’s done with them.

“The current model of total surveillance and permanent storage is not tenable. If we keep it up we’re going to have our own version of Three Mile Island — some widely publicised failure that galvanises popular opinion against the technology.”


Somewhat related: Antisocial media marketing.


Comments

One response to “Haunted by data”

  1. Great suggestion, but who is going to enforce this? As long as Facebook et al have our sensitive data on their servers, there is nothing to stop them using it as they see it fit. This is sad as we keep volunteering our entire lives to them each day we use their networks. Until we decide to somehow take a stand, the unclothing of our privacy will continue.

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