You Are a Terrorist’s Worst Nightmare
Posted: January 2, 2012 Filed under: Community, Culture, Intentional Living, Paranoia, Political Engagement, Privacy | Tags: former president bush, politics of fear, right wing extremist 1 Comment »
As we enter a new year, I think it’s a good time to share some thoughts on terror and freedom that have been percolating for a while.
Last Summer, as I followed the aftermath of Norway’s July 22 terror attacks, I was humbled and shocked by the admirable response of the country’s prime minister Jens Stoltenberg. His statements that the attacks were not only upon people, but upon their nation’s heritage of trust and openness were insightful.
His firm stance was that Norway would respond, not with quick or thoughtless legislation, but with more openness to show their strength in the face of a competing and violent ideology. I was duly impressed and secretly wanted to become Norwegian. That feeling’s only increased as my own country has continued down the path of fear and folly, with a shortsighted commitment to security in all the wrong ways.
These growing sentiments were admirably summed up by Euro-journalist Bruno Kaufmann, in a recent article published on Zocalo Public Square. His piece is titled “You Don’t Scare Us, Terrorists,” and tells the story of Norway’s official and unofficial response to the homegrown terrorist killings of right-wing extremist Anders Breivik, who both blew up one of the most important government buildings in Oslo (miraculously only killing 8 people), then massacred 69 teenagers at an island camp of the country’s Labor Party. In a recent trip from Stockholm to Oslo, Kaufmann’s ID was not even checked – and he shared a plane with Sweden’s Crown Princess and her husband.
As an American living in the days of the post 9/11 Patriot Act, Norway’s response is a breath of fresh air. It speaks quietly against a stifling culture of collective fear, war for war, and futile chest-thumping wrapped in Old Glory. Read the rest of this entry »
Kindle Fire Ignites Security Concerns
Posted: November 15, 2011 Filed under: Culture, Intentional Living, Paranoia, Privacy, Technology Leave a comment »
With Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet shipping today, many consumers are talking about the tablet's hyped features and low price tag. While I'm sure that the Fire will bomb the market as a low cost iPad alternative, and e-reader on steroids, what's far more interesting to me are the many security and privacy concerns integral to the tablet's new Silk web browser.
In the words of Steve Vaughan-Nichols over at ZDNet "Silk looks to be very fast and about as private as a bathroom stall without a door."
Read more »
Top 3 Most Invasive "Patriot Act" Provisions
Posted: October 27, 2011 Filed under: Community, Culture, Intentional Living, Paranoia, Political Engagement, Privacy, Technology Leave a comment »10 years after the passing of the Patriot Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put together a “Greatest Hits” collection of the Act’s most invasive and dangerous elements.
In case you’ve been living in a bunker since 2001, the Patriot Act is a collection of
“…decidedly unpatriotic principles barred by the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. Provisions of the PATRIOT Act have been used to target innocent Americans and are widely used in investigations that have nothing to do with national security.”
Take the time to read the full article at EFF.
Via BoingBoing
Click Click! Gotcha!
Posted: September 28, 2011 Filed under: Intentional Living, Paranoia, Privacy, Technology Leave a comment »
It’s been said that the Internet is written in pen, not pencil.
If you’re online, you’ve probably experienced the “oops-I-clicked-send/post/poke-before-I-was-ready-and-now-that-poorly-written-email-exists forever-in-cyberspace” syndrome. We’ve all watched Anthony Weiner recently roast his promising career with a few ill chosen snapshots…pics that now digitally exist FOREVER.
The permanency of digital communication is something we’re all still adjusting to, and it can be uncomfortable.
Odds are though, that we have more to worry about than just a mis-sent missal, or even a breach of our bank accounts or “identity”.
As our world becomes digitized, especially through ubiquitous social media, it’s likely that every single one of us will wish within our lifetime that we had read that “Privacy” policy a little bit closer when we signed up to connect to… whatever.
It’s worth taking 5 minutes to watch the BBC’s story about facial recognition and the end of anonymity.
Though I’ve heard (mostly on Boing Boing and Motherboard) the big pieces of the story before, it’s a succinct, street level summary of the reasons why YOU SHOULD BE SCARED SCREAMING OUT OF YOUR EVERLOVING WITS EVERY TIME ANYONE PUTS YOUR FACE ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET.
With my simmering paranoia and hysteria out of the way, let me comment briefly on a couple things as you go watch the video:
1) I started with this, but the Internet is here to stay–and what you do on it is permanent. Like it or not, (I mostly don’t), it’s a fact that has few exceptions.
2) Our ability to do things has so outstripped our ability to ask the “why’s”, “ought’s”, and “should’s”, that even well meaning people, websites, and organizations should be considered risky. Perspective comes slowly to us mutants. We may need to wait a little while to really understand the implications of our technology on society, community and individual civil liberties.
3) Don’t feel funny about stepping back sometimes from the “cutting edge”. As someone who spent several years on Facebook before deleting my account to focus on my physical neighbors and community, I speak from experience. Our friends and family have been very understanding and cooperative with our sometime humorous requests to not post/tag pics of me, my wife, or our daughter online.Trust me, you won’t lose out if you take a deep breath and thoughtfully examine your digital life. It may be time to cancel, unsubscribe, delete, purge, or even spend some time unplugged.
Odds are that we will never be chased by a fascist government, have our identities stolen by Uzbek hackers, or stalked by a serial killer from down the block because of our tagged social media photos. But it should give us pause. We need to examine why we’re online, why we’re sharing intimate life details on a public platform, why we feel the need to be more than a name or an IP address in the digital community. I am not a Luddite. There are compelling reasons to share one’s life with others online. But we need to do so intentionally, with perspective, and as choosing and dignified human beings.
We’re more than faces in a crowd, more than ghosts in the machine. We’re people, and we need to guard that humanity very, very carefully. We do that by thinking sharply, choosing wisely, and always being ready to meet our neighbors with a smile.
But cameras aren’t neighbors.
