A world without privacy
In today's world privacy is a commodity which is vanishing. No more secrets, nothing is sacred, everything is shared.
With deepfakes and AI it is only going to be worse. Right now with cameras everywhere you are almost always visible in public. With spy cameras becoming so tiny and sophisticated at such a tiny price it is a simple task to spy on someone. Technology like Apple Airtags mean a simple disk can track a person virtually wherever they may go. The internet and big data can watch what you do, what you buy, where you go and so on
No wonder that others like @emreal mentioned in his article that people have to fight to remain anonymous. Fight to keep their private information private.
Then again @jjmusa showed the other side of the equation. When he had to find a debtor a simple phone track allowed the police to find the individual in a short period of time.
Which leaves the question: Should data be private or open?
Public or Private
I'm going to bet that everyone wants to keep their information private. I'm also going to bet that everyone wants to have information being used to find criminal activity wide open to keep them safe. However, there is a choice: Privacy or Public. Trying to make rules to differentiate just means there will be loopholes for privacy or disclosure to be used improperly.
(Image source: Dall-e)
If you look at the Bible it would agree that people prefer to keep things hidden:
But some want to maintain privacy to keep themselves hidden from criminals. I guess it works both ways which means..
I see both sides of the argument. I don't want people to know my private information as I want to keep myself safe. I don't want criminals to see how much is in my bank account for fear of having it stolen. I don't want everyone to see my private viewpoints for fear of being discriminated against. Then again, I don't want criminals to go hidden in my community.
I am certainly not smart enough to know the answer to this problem. However, here is my idea based on my time on Hive and while playing Splinterlands.
A world where everything was open
If you are reading this article you are on Hive. Here is a little something you may or may not know about Hive.
Nothing is private!
There are no private messages.
There are no hidden financial transactions.
There is no delete button to take back something you've written.
EVERYTHING is open to all users. Now you may not know how to access the information. You may not know what the information means. However, to someone who wants to know it is all there for all to see.
Which I will argue is a good thing.
If someone says they are going to buy something from me for 100 Hive I can immediately look at their wallet to see if they have the funds. I can view their past posts to see if they seem reputable. I can quickly figure out if they are a person I want to do business with.
Imagine how useful that could be in real life! Being able to lend money to someone based on full financial information and even lifestyle choices. See if they are trustworthy or not. Wouldn't that be nice?
Imagine how useful it could be in trying to find a life partner. Getting to know who a person is without all the hidden baggage
Imagine if all criminal acts were in plain view. Imagine if spouses couldn't cheat without being found out. Children couldn't try drugs without their parents knowledge. Vandals and thieves couldn't hide their actions. Society could be a much more orderly place.
Of course there are huge downsides too. Imagine being LGBTQ+ in a regime which discriminated against those who weren't binary. Nowhere to hide. A life destined to misery being forced to conform or be punished. Imagine the loss of freedom! With everything being open and every action critiqued it would mean having to watch every word, every action, and every purchase.
Then again, as a Hive member I'm pretty sure everyone is already aware of that. Hitting the "Publish" button on Hive means thinking about your work before you hit it!
The importance of password security
Now while everything is open on Hive there is one thing that is hidden. Each person's personal keys. That is super important if everything is open!
I'm terganftp. I understand that I must take responsibility for everything that I post. However, if someone posts something and tries to make it look like I made it that's not going to happen. Only I am Me. Someone could make a deepfake of me but couldn't post it on my account. For good or bad I have to take responsibility for what I post.... but on Hive I don't have worry about other people impersonating me or stealing my identity.
My account and crypto are my own and no-one can steal it from me
...at least not easily and if they did there would be a trail of where it went.
In Splinterlands (a Hive based game) they take things a little further. In that game they have "SoulBound" cards. Those cards belong only to the account they were assigned. They cannot be traded, sold, or otherwise given away. My Soulbound cards are exclusively mine.
In real life imagine how powerful that would be!
My SIN# bound to me. My Drivers Licence bound to me. Soulbound identity would be so useful. No more identity theft. No worry about being impersonated by someone. No getting "framed" for something you didn't do.
Now in Splinterlands Soulbound doesn't mean private. It is still public for all to see. However, it is linked to me and only me.
Equally open for everyone
Another nice part of Hive is that the rules apply to everyone. Rich or Poor. Minnow or Whale all accounts are open for all to see!
Imagine that in the real world.
Imagine you could figure out all the details of those people who are running for government. Imagine if you could find all the details of the people running for police. Imagine if you could see all the financial dealings of the companies you wanted to deal with.
How nice would it be to understand just what your politicians REALLY stand for. Imagine if you could find out how honest those rich businessmen REALLY were.
While I wish that privacy were real in this world and understand how nice and freeing it is.
In a world where there is a gray area on what is and isn't private I'll say lets make everything open. Freedom will be gone but perhaps people will have to think twice before they are mean or underhanded. Perhaps people will have to be nicer.
Then again we could be getting a world where authoritarian rule and conformity are enforced.
Time will tell...
... Right now we have the illusion of freedom.
....... As time goes by I have a feeling that illusion will be broken.
Just my thoughts.
Thanks for reading
and of course feel free to share your opinions :)
I always love feedback.