I don't know about you, but I cannot live without a few secrets. Without secrets, without a private inner life, we lose our individuality and our sense of self. Today though, we are bombarded with messages telling us that privacy is worth sacrificing for the greater good; for the good of community security, for the … Continue reading Secrets and Lies
Tag: privacy
Eat Your Greens
Alas. I do not have a lovely little image of this lovely little book. I live in South Africa and (due to a severe lack of foresight on the part of our esteemed leaders and holders of the public purse strings) we are in the midst of yet another cycle of what South Africans call … Continue reading Eat Your Greens
Envy – A Theory of Social Behaviour
"Social justice means that we deny ourselves many things so that others may have to do without them as well, or what is the same thing, many not be able to ask for them." ~ Sigmund Freud (emphasis my own) Helmut Schoeck's theory of social behaviour focuses on Envy as the key driving force behind … Continue reading Envy – A Theory of Social Behaviour
Introducing “The Ethernet”
Trend analyst, Dion Chang of Flux Trends said that 2018 was the year of voice - the year that we reached "peak screen" and began to move from screen based internet to voice based internet. He was not wrong. Alexa, Siri and Google Home are now common place. Over 43 million US homes have access to … Continue reading Introducing “The Ethernet”
Everybody Lies
This book by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz covers the lies we tell ourselves, our employers, our families and our countries; and about how the data crumb-trail we leave behind us all over the Internet through our search history and our social media likes and posts reveal who we really are. The case studies in this book cover … Continue reading Everybody Lies
Conspiracy (with a very interesting cast)
I'll be honest. I bought this book because of the title. I was bored, stuck in an airport with a delayed flight, killing time in a bookshop and the title called to me from across the store - after all who doesn't like a good conspiracy? Despite its random impulse purchase status, I loved this book. … Continue reading Conspiracy (with a very interesting cast)
The blockchain never forgets…
It has been said that the Internet never forgets. But the blockchain really never forgets. With current Internet, although difficult, it is at least theoretically possible to have your secrets, once exposed, removed from the World Wide Web. There are digital detectives and privacy law firms who, for a mere $50,000 and $300,000 per "project" (plus a "small" … Continue reading The blockchain never forgets…