Posts tagged privacy issues
Privacy remains a social norm
Apr 12th
Recently, a considerable amount of controversy ensued when Mark Zuckerberg, head of the world’s most popular online social network, Facebook, was misquoted as saying, “privacy is no longer a social norm.” What he actually said was: “People have really gotten comfortable, not only with sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.”
But few appear to recall his exact words – the take-away (erroneous though it may be), was that Mr. Zuckerberg no longer considered privacy to be a social norm (reflected in the many calls I received, asking me to respond to that statement). While I would not presume to speak for Mr. Zuckerberg, having spoken with his staff, they confirmed that his words were taken out of context.
They built in privacy…so can you
Jan 19th
Every year, my office hosts an annual event known as the Privacy by Design (PbD) Challenge where a distinguished group of speakers relate their personal success stories with PbD and the dividends they gained for their organizations.
Last year’s event was a great success, attended by over 250 public and private sector business leaders and academics.
Since last year, the concept of PbD has grown dramatically and is now an established archetype in the field of privacy protection. For that reason, this year’s event – Privacy by Design: The Gold Standard – will focus on the implementation of new technologies, business practices, and infrastructure in a manner that can deliver tangible results on the promise of PbD.
My theme for this year is, “We did it … so can you,” and nothing demonstrates this theme better than Google’s recent announcement that it will be enabling HTTPS encryption for all Gmail users – by default. Last summer I issued a paper entitled, If You Want to Protect Your Privacy, Secure Your Gmail, to which we had a very positive response from Google. I consider this latest development a huge success for PbD. I applaud Google for their bold leadership in the field of privacy protection and I can only hope that other providers of online services follow their example. If a company with the size and stature of Google can adopt PbD, then anyone can. Read the rest of this entry »
What part should travelers play in airport security?
Jan 11th
I can safely say that I have one of the most satisfying occupations in the world. Helping to protect the intangible assets that drive the world’s economies is certainly something that most individuals (read: men) with a superhero complex should aspire to, once they figure out that forcing radioactive spider bite situations to occur is a recipe for pain and disappointment.
Despite the rewards of the occupation, the cost of entry (competence, experience, qualification) and on-going investments (time, training, equipment) are high. None of these is as high as the relentless effort to stay on top of current events and to separate valuable information from FUD. 
Over the past couple of weeks, the already prominent airline security debate has reached unprecedented levels of irrationality following the “Christmas Terror Attack” and the introduction of the controversial ‘naked’ scanners. The “Security Theater” continues to this day and from where I sit, absolutely anyone with an outlet is given a voice, whether they have any understanding of security, privacy, civil liberties or well… not. Read the rest of this entry »
