(6/4/2016)
I have to say what
Cuban said is a real concern, but it is also an evil of the chilling effect
from "the Power." First, social media has been a way of connecting
people in the 21st century. Before that, people are more isolated, for those
who are in minority (ethnic, sexual orientation, personal interest ...), it is
not easy to find someone who are alike. It is the same for someone who has
special interest. For example, I love science and astrophysics. For someone who
lives in a remote place, it will be very difficult to find someone who has
similar interest (through newspaper classified ad? local library? or
Craigslist???). Various social media connect people who are very far away but
share similar interest, similar background, similar culture, or similar
suppressed ideology. Of course, the bad guys can also take advantage of social
media. ISIS uses social media to recruit their fighters in Western
countries.
Social media as a tool
is neutral by itself, like knife, shot guns, or drugs. When people use it in a
beneficial way, they create social benefits; when people use it in a harmful
way, they causes damages and some people get hurts.
Cuban is warning that
in the future our social media and digital footprints will be used against us.
My question is who will use it against us? Who has that power and who are
"the Power?" The government (or the regime controller) and business
(that use various way to control the government). I am not against the
government, but in most countries (including democratic countries) the
government is always the entity defining the boundary of good and evil for the
society (through democratic way or not). It uses its influence in propaganda,
making legislations in the name of "maintaining social order" and use
the police system to do execution. Look at the "Drug War" initiated
by Nixon's government in the US. The US government used propaganda and
legislation to define what are legal drugs and what are not, it sent millions
of violators into prisons. Once the drug war started, the pharmaceutical
companies realized that is benefits to them because after the Drug war US
government outlaws several drugs that were cheap and easily accessible to
people (like Cannabis and cocaine) and have to buy drugs that are now made by
the pharmaceutical companies and 'approved' by the US FDA. In the US, the lobby
system makes it a perfect system of the elite control.
What Cuban warned is
that "the Power" will trace our digital footprints, which will be
used against us. I believe his vision is correct and his concern is valid
if we look back to our history. What I don't agree with Cuban is that "we
should self-sensor our personal expression, communication and interpersonal connection
under the threat." He thinks we should take actions to protect ourselves
and based on his recommendation we should either isolated ourselves from social
media, deleting our digital footprint once we leave one, or subscribe his
startup company's (Cyberdust.com) service, which claims providing private
messages in a encrypted private network. This is in their website:
PRIVATE
MESSAGING.
PRIVATE NETWORKING.
Send
private, encrypted, disappearing messages to friends or co-workers.
Build
intimate networks and private relationships with influential members and
celebrities. Secure, easy, and free.
It reminds me several
things. First, will it be totally private and safe? The recent war
between US FBI and Apple
iPhone decryption is still fresh in our memory. All
communications in that private network will be gone in a certain period of
time, and it looks wonderful. But it can also be disastrous. When the memories
of both parties goes vague, who memory is the correct one? The technology for
private messaging, private encrypted network is not difficult. If it truly
works in terms of financial success, I will say it is one of the easiest and
most profitable digital business model. Cyberdust.com don't need to build
thousands of server center like Google or Amazon, because most of the messages
will be deleted and they don't need many server at all. They don't even need to
worry much of lawsuit in losing client's data because they are deleted on
purpose.
Cyberdust also reminds
me of several companies that are profiting from selling "digital
fears" like "LifeLock." LifeLock provides "identity theft
protection service to help protect your finances and good name from identity
theft and fraud." A bunch of companies provide similar identity protection
against ID theft and fraud (free or paid service) and LifeLock claims they even
compensate your loss up to $1 millions, that many other companies don't
provide. This raises even bigger concerns: the complexity of service
coverage for digital ID protection is beyond average people's comprehension,
and the "service agreement" users "check" when they subscribe
always protect the service provider not the consumers. Did you see anyone who
read through the service agreement when they buy on an online website or
subscribe a digital service? "To Read All Of The
Privacy Policies You Encounter, You'd Need To Take A Month Off From Work Each
Year" Cyberdust will be the same. Cyberdust (or similar companies) are selling
"digital fears" to people and make $$$ out of that fear.
Of course, ID theft
and fraud is real and a big issue. Many consumers have experienced various
degrees of ID theft, password loss and personal information loss and privacy
breaches. But, now hackers don't go after individual Internet users, they go
directly to those companies server and steal chunk (millions or hundreds of
millions). There are plenty of examples: Target, Ashley Madison, US government,
Sony, Home Depot.... (See here for a list in recent years,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_breach#2016). Cyberdust is just sell a
different of fear, not ID theft or fraud, but personal damage from we
expressing on the Internet and social media.
I don't mean we should
not be concerned, I also don't mean that we should just reveal everything about
ourselves on social media without any discretion. But I want to see through the
forces that make us concern and fear of reasonably self expression and
interpersonal communication. A fear like that is when we cannot differentiate
what is a person's "right of expression" and then we allow the
government, business or other influential entities using people's digital
footprints to discriminate, or even criminalize individuals. When the society
allows that to happen (in some countries, it has happened already), we have
lost the spirit of open and democratic society. I hope that day will never
come.
