Calling the Kettle Black?

Recently, a number of predominant high-tech companies have joined the growing list of companies upset with the government. It has been reported that the government has been harvesting (collecting) more information from these companies and their costumers than they were previously led to believe. I would be upset too! I am also very surprised by these companies’ reactions. The management teams of these companies must not understand the motives and perspectives of the people who operate the NSA. The NSA is collecting as much information as possible from as many sources as possible. The depth or their encroachment into people’s personal lives and personal privacy is no longer a secret. This shouldn’t be news to anyone.

These high tech companies are the big, advertisement-driven companies that many of us come into contact with every day. We are talking about Google, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo. These are the very companies that collect data from you and make you their product. All of these companies generate significant revenues and profits (which drives their high market capitalization) by delivering targeted advertising to their users based on information they have collected from them. All of these companies have publicly available privacy policies written by very sophisticated legal teams. If you can understand the “legal speak” it tells the consumer what information will be collected and how it will be used. In ALL cases these companies are taking more information than their user communities are aware of and using it in ways not imagined or understood by their customers, which they see and treat as their products.

Has the government has overstepped their bounds? Absolutely. Have many companies driven by advertising revenue have also overstepped their bounds. Definitely. People who value their privacy must come to accept the fact that products that are “free” come along with both cost and consequence. The cost of using these tools is that people are putting their personal privacy and information at risk. The consequence is the unknown use of people’s personal information for corporate gain. I had to scratch my head. So, it’s ok for these companies to harvest their user’s information for financial gain but then these same companies complain about the NSA harvesting their corporate and customer information under the guise of national security. Seems a little hypocritical to me.

Bottom Line: If you value your privacy, both as an individual and as the employee of company, you will need to stop engaging with companies that see you as their product and mine your personal information for their financial gain and move to companies that do not embrace this. If you want to keep your information away from the NSA, you will need to use a set of personal privacy tools created to give individuals the ability to “become Invisible”. At IONU, we provide both.

Where Have all Your Contacts Gone

Multiple sources have recently reported the NSA on a “representative” day collects more than 500K address books and buddy lists. Yes, you read that correctly – in one day. This is accomplished with sophisticated technology combined with relationships with foreign telecommunication providers. The NSA is definitely in the relationship business. For the most part, they are looking for bad guys communicating with other bad guys. However, their ability to collect personal contact lists is another example of the level of sophistication that is available to obtain all sorts of electronic information.

The NSA has a huge budget with limited supervision. Companies that generate revenue from targeted advertising (providing ads based on what they know about you) like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Yahoo, are equally sophisticated and have large R&D budgets with teams focused on collecting data.

The good news is that people are becoming more aware of the issues that they face with the assault on their personal privacy. The bad news is, most people feel like they there is nothing they can really do to stop this. For most people, it seems like a daunting task to protect their privacy. In some cases, it really can be.

Here’s just one example, truly protecting your contact list is not a simple task. It can be exposed if it is not encrypted on the device(s) where is exits. Portions of your contact information are also exposed when you send a message. As you send messages to different people it is possible for someone to piece together bits of information about your contacts based on your messaging patterns and ultimately recreate it. Tracking the people who are sending messages to you can also be used in piecing together your contact list.

Interesting Video
Big Data: NSA Isn’t The Only One Collecting All Your Personal Information

At IONU, we believe that people should be able to experience the benefits of the connected world without having to continually worry about their personal information being collected. They should be able to do this without having to become a security expert in order to feel safe. Individuals need solutions that will significantly mitigate these exposures. That is what we create.
Stay tuned.