TOTW№12: Surveillance Capitalism VS. Privacy By Design - Special Report by IoTeX

[Alina]

Hello, IoTeX community!

What happens when corporate surveillance expands from our digital apps to physical devices?

Last week, IoTeX published a special report overlooking the current state of IoT, smart devices, privacy, and Big Tech Giants. This report explores the implication of the major tech corporations penetrating our homes and neighborhoods, and why it is more important than ever to take back our data and privacy.

If you haven’t read it, please see DocSend

In this week’s discussion, we would like to ask you and share thoughts on:

Which one of these 4 aspects {below} will have a large implication on our privacy and why?

1. NO SAFETY NETS IN THE REAL WORLD
   While our digital lives can be patched up and reset, there is no safety net in the real world. The stakes have been raised as hackers take aim at our physical wellbeing.

2. BIG TECH ACQUIRING ACCESS INTO YOUR HOME
   The world’s largest tech corporations are on a spending spree, acquiring companies like Ring, Nest, and Fitbit to get an inside look at our homes and health.

3. FUTURE THREATS: FLIPPING THE SWITCH
   A global surveillance infrastructure is being built right under our noses. What happens when higher powers flip the switch and our devices no longer work for us?

4. TOWARDS A HUMAN-CENTERED FUTURE
   Data privacy regulations are emerging, but regulation alone cannot save us. We must adopt new technologies with “privacy by design” to reach a human-centered future.

Submit your answers by Sunday, May 3, 4 PM PST to be eligible for rewards

Rewards: Most interesting 3 answers will receive 5,000 IOTX EACH + all of the participants will be entered in the community scoreboard for April
{Make sure to include your Telegram ID}

You can post more than once but make sure to share different stories/use cases, do not duplicate posts. Feel free to comment & reply to posts from other community members.

[No_One]

I can see all having an impact, but “#2. BIG TECH ACQUIRING ACCESS INTO YOUR HOME” will continue to have a huge impact on our privacy. Many people are unaware or don’t read the fine print on these devices that are pretty much listening to our “private” conversations 24/7. The privacy impacts can come from multiple angles.

The 1st angle is the big tech company acquiring personnel information from the unwitting consumer and then using their information/data for their companies gain and of course, not compensating the victim.

The 2nd angle is people that work for these companies using the tech for nefarious reasons.

The final angle which sort of aligns with the 2nd angle, hackers gaining access to these listening devices and stealing personal data/information.

The amount of personal data available to these companies is unreal. They may not all get it from one device, but once it’s aggregated from multiple devices it can be even more damaging.

@troytrojan01

[Jokers]

Well, I’d say it’s not so easy to choose, but I can agree with @No_One that feeling unsafely at home is very disappointing. Home is a place where we need to feel ourselves free of others evaluation, it is a place of staying alone with ourselves, staying with a close relatives, our families. And when the corporations are breaking and entering our houses with their intrusive interest, it is really disgusting. So people faced with a choice between using modern technologies and holding privacy. It is inappropriate. Technologies should help people, and not breaking our personal life, we have that right for safe, private and technological world!

Telegram… @bez_nicka

[altcoin_maximalist]

All 4 aspects have a big impact on our privacy !!!

We live in a time when data is viewed as digital oil. In principle, this data is very revealing and could significantly improve our lives.

The reality, however, looks very different. On the one hand, the money is made out of our pockets and on the other hand, our data is misused or used for monitoring. On the other hand, we enjoy the advantages of the products that spy on us and can even take advantage of one or the other.
This made the products very attractive and led to a global data protection problem that must be addressed.
Germany, for example, attaches great importance to data protection and privacy. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to motivate foreign companies to implement new data protection regulations. This is also because these companies now have more influence than we would like.
This is where new innovations have to show new possibilities.

In retrospect, I consider the large data collection campaigns to be necessary. After all, these business models have driven a lot of innovation.
Now we have blockchain and are able to take a new evolutionary step. Finally, we users have a choice and can decide for ourselves whether we want to disclose our data or not.
Without the many scandals, Satoshi Nakamoto would probably never have written the Bitcoin white paper.
Historically, exploitation leads to revolutions that change life afterwards for the better and drive new innovations.

When you become aware that hacker attacks are steadily increasing, I hope that governments will welcome the blockchain revolution. After all, we are at a point that makes us all vulnerable as soon as we enter the Internet. The last big data scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica shows
that the data obtained about us is able to make a choice. This is only possible because our data reveal more about us than we are aware of. In the end, we have no choice because we rely on our emotions.

Decentralized identities are a good approach and make it much more difficult for hackers, malicious companies and employees to attack us or misuse our data.
I dream of a world in which all our devices have a DID to protect us from third party access.
The owners of a laptop or a cell phone shouldn’t be able to tap their cameras because they are afraid of being spied on.

I personally believe that dataprotection and privacy will outweigh the need for control and power. It’s only a matter of time.

[altcoin_maximalist]

To 4. ON THE WAY TO A HUMAN FUTURE

New data protection regulations only give us users the feeling that they have control over our data. Germany is a pioneer in data protection. The country has been trying to introduce new data protection regulations for a long time, but I don’t feel that the responsible companies are implementing them. Strictly speaking, this is also not possible as long as our devices do not guarantee protection against third-party access. Data is still being saved and more unforgivable data scandals will follow.

I see the big problem not only in the centralization of our data, but in the often badly hidden back doors in our devices, which are open to everyone who knows them. This means that all of our IoT devices that are connected to the Internet are easy prey for hackers.

I read that when you set up a new computer, it’s very likely to catch a virus. In my opinion, every internet user needs a security expert at their side. At this point it should be clear why we need hardware that makes our devices invulnerable. Privacy by design is the right step to tackle the problem.

TG: altcoin_maximalist

[DrRoM13]

1 NO SAFETY NETS IN THE REAL WORLD:
To begin with, I recommend that you carefully read the basic settings of your hardware and the terms of use of the services that You use. For example, many people know that companies like Google and Facebook (these are the two most high-profile examples, in fact, almost all companies work like this) they collect an incredibly huge amount of information about You, BUT not everyone is aware of what data they collect and for what purposes. Most people don’t care what they do it for. But there are a lot of other opinions about this. And if You are wondering how to protect yourself from such situations, I advise you:
1)first, after reviewing the terms of service and privacy policy of the services you are interested in, if you disagree with at least a couple of points, completely refuse to use them, look for more suitable alternatives, or accept it and simply control requests for certain permissions;
2) second, configure your device to access the Internet according To your preferences (for example, prevent Google from tracking your location in the background and storing information about It), etc.;
3) third, IF, in Your opinion, Your actions in real life should not be made public, even for an Internet provider, use only software of the highest level of confidentiality. We are talking not only about browsers (I recommend Firefox in various modifications depending on the situation of using the Internet and Tor Browser, as the most reliable, at the moment, method of preserving privacy), but also about additional services to ensure the security and safety of data about You, such as: VPN, Proxy servers and additional browser extensions (which, by the way, as with all of the above, you need to be very careful and attentive.

[tadex]

Towards a human-centered future will quite have an unimaginable implications on our privacy. Though data privacy regulations are emerging, despite of its own positive contributions, its lapses are still make the loudest noise to privacy we can rely on.
Privacy by design with the inclination of new technological products to be private by default have will the greatest impact on our most sought for kind of privacy. To achieve this, we must adopt a technology that is transparent, trusted, secured, decentralized, immutable, like the one signaling by blockchain and secure hardware. The foundational principles of the privacy by design framework also uphold these unique features.
Data ownership play a critical role in attainment of a human center privacy, hence it must be shifted from corporations control. This will enable individual to become a major stakeholder and decision maker when it comes to sharing of data with the third party and big giant tech that uses our data without consent and compensation.
Application of privacy by design products must be built, embraced and supported by all, in order to achieved this goal in no distant time.

Telegram Id: @tadex01

[livingseed]

Big tech acquiring access into your home is no doubt will have a large impact on our privacy, one’s home is the entire one’s privacy. If any intruder can in one way or the other gain access to one’s home, it means no information or data about such as individual will be left spared.

In the case of Google according to EFF controlling 62% of mobile browsers, 69% of desktop browsers and 92% of internet searches worldwide. Also know who you email (Gmail) and where you go (Google’s Maps), what you watch (Youtube) and much more.

Google receives over 63,000 searches per second which translates to 5.6 billion searches per day and at least 2 trillion searches per year. At least 57% of the world have access internet and that there are currently 4.33 billion active internet users. Google owns about 200 companies according to Investopedia. With these statistics, it is easy to conclude that no one’s privacy is spared, even those without internet will at one point or the other submitted their data for one need or the other at one time or the other through the active internet users.

All our smart home devices are not spared, they are now the ears and eyes of our homes through which Big Tech is hearing and watching.

Continuous acquisitions of other companies by these Big Tech is a way to get new users so as to access their data. Huge investment in patents is another way of accessing our data by these company. Take for instance Amazon uses of Alexa to auto-detect our emotions based on our speech pattern and use this information to suggest thing to do, watch and purchase to the detriment of the data owners and improving their balance sheet exponentially is no other time to halt than now.

With above statistics and points one can undoubtedly concluded that Big tech acquiring access into your home will have the greatest impact on our privacy.

Telegram ID- @SangosanyaM

[Jess]

Nice , this report should be published

[Artanovskaya]

Participate in this discussion

[Artanovskaya]

I want to share my opinion on the item FUTURE THREATS: FLIPPING THE SWITCH.

Just some days ago I watched a movie with Keira Knightley, which recently came out. It is called Official Secrets. The plot tells the story of Katherine Gan, an employee of the Government Communications Center of Great Britain, who transmitted the secret information to The Observer to uncover illegal grounds for starting a war in Iraq. Based on real events.

So such agencies work daily, without days off and lunch breaks. Such agents follow each of us.
And nothing prevents such agencies at any moment from finding themselves in our house in a coffee maker, not that on the phone.
The problem of global surveillance infrastructure has been important for many years. Not the first year, people have been protesting against such measures.

Choosing between the modern world and smart technologies in my kitchen and prehistoric home improvement and complete confidentiality, I will choose a simple knife and a simple frying pan than a smart processor that will prepare a full dinner for me and collect my secrets in for the sake of world government.

@Artanovskaya

[Jess]

FUTURE THREATS: FLIPPING THE SWITCH

This would have large impact in the future, why?
Because every nook and cranny have eyes and ears which are street cameras, IoT products which it’s privacy is centralized and can be sold any time.

That’s why higher authorities can trace and track anyone at anytime and also put everything around him, his cars, house, phones, work etc to a stop by the flip of a button because they have access regardless the privacy clause attached to the products that are sold these days. And everything is stored in the database.

Hence, it is always advisable to go through terms and conditions of a given product before agreement although it can long atimes. And also to implement privacy by design which decentralizes the privacy network.

@JessiSam

[Rosy]

Would like to share my thoughts on: No Safety Nets In The World:;

No doubt that we spend most of our time around our different homes, but the outside world greatly impacts our lives on daily bases. And to think that an uncountable number of smart devices are being developed everyday ranging from the least to the most complex devices which directly or indirectly affect us makes it even more real. Fact remains that government (the actual body that controls the world) are the major patronizers of these giant tech companies, all in the name of keeping an eye on their citizens. The rich also, to monitor their employees and their investments.

Obviously, we can refuse to acquire and bring home a particular smart device that we feel might expose our privacy - that is we exercising our privacy rights, some level of consciousness/ control towards our security/privacy in our homes.

Now, imagine a situation where such devices aside the cameras and hidden sensors that keeps a steady tab on us are fully installed in a public places like our offices, hospitals to mention but a few and we are forced to utilize such device because there are no other alternative knowing fully well of the underlying security implications. This is to say that, we have a good level of control over our privacy in our homes but same can’t be said over our world.

More so, it is hard to accept that we trade our data/privacy in public places consciously or unconsciously…and for the conscious few, finds it even harder to accept that little or nothing can be done about it because of higher authorities. And its really sad to note that this very privacy exposure is really increasing by the day.

However, it’s important that we remember that, if there are no safety nets in the world that totally means no safety nets in our homes cause our homes only forms a little part of our bigger world/existence.
@Free_ibelieve

[c_okenwa]

I think there’s "NO SAFETY NETS IN THE REAL WORLD " thus more impactful on our privacy. The Big-Thieves SORRY “Big Tech” is already in our lives, and gearing for full take-over.

Albert Einstein said “Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to maintain balance, you must keep moving”

The problem is, every one of these moves generates data in a profound surveillance digital world, which makes it impossible for people to maintain balance under the legacy system and its sanctioned surveillance capitalists.

But isn’t ridiculous to delegate the most important job of our lives to someone else? Yet, that’s exactly what we’ve done here by allowing data dictators to be in charge of our raw generated data - our natural resource. Any distortion of these data, distorts our lives.

We have the CEO of Diggit openly saying, “We’re able to view just everything that they do. And that’s really where data is going today. Data is the new oil.”

Well, data might be the new oil BUT, most of this data is generated by human emotions thus, wrong equation, no data compares to human-generated data in terms of dollar tag.

Which beg why will anyone delegate the most important job of his or her life to someone else? I guess the answer is a helpless one, “what can I do”? “I have to keep moving”, - in a world where the system itself is watching you … what can you do?

It might seem like a never-ending battle, but we are not completely helpless, thanks to the advancement in technology especially “privacy by design” blockchain technologies like IoTeX which we can adapt to, to mitigate some of the loopholes. We just have to recondition our minds away from convenience and start putting-on all the precautionary armour to stay the course. If we must take full control of our precious data - our lives.

Here’s a takeaway phrase if you will: “My DATA Is Mine To Keep” Say it until your brain reconditioned to form the new habit and STOP offshoring" your data to Big Tech. We have a huge part to play here.

@c_okenwa

[Klaus]

@Alina

NO SAFETY NETS IN THE REAL WORLD
While our digital lives can be patched up and reset, there is no safety net in the real world. The stakes have been raised as hackers take aim at our physical wellbeing.

Hackers always aim for our physical security. Their goal is to earn money. Therefore, they can use absolutely every opportunity to take possession of your credit card information, your personal data, your money and your benefits.

Hackers have always been, hackers exist now and there will always be hackers.

Time is changing, technology is being improved, and therefore hacking skills are also always being improved. You have no idea how many hacker methods exist right now. They can follow you even when you do not suspect about it and consider that you are completely safe.

That is why this problem should defend attention along with everyone else.

@SaleAccSF

[Artanovskaya]

Generally a very interesting topic for discussion about problems that everyone thinks about, but people have no opportunity to influence the whole situation.

Thanks to the IoTeX project, it has now become real so that our every opinion is heard.

I want to pay attention to paragraph 2 BIG TECH ACQUIRING ACCESS INTO YOUR HOME

As always, large corporations are buying up small profitable companies in order to turn their products into something that will follow our every move.
It is not only a matter of the confidentiality of your data, but also of using your data against yourself.

It’s no secret that in addition to spyware government organizations, there are now a ton of other organizations that also collect your data. These are the companies with which each of us deals daily - Samsung, Apple, etc.
It has long been no secret that all social networks monitor absolutely all correspondence, etc.

We are all in this database and this can not be changed.

That is why such a company, like IoTeX, must appear on the market that can resist global corporations, stand in this battle and win this battle!

We must not lose our life and turn it into slavery.

@Artanovskaya

[Alina]

Hi guys! Thank you to all that have participated in this discussion!

Here are the winners of this thread:
@altcoin_maximalist
@DrRoM13- please PM me your IoTeX wallet address to receive the reward
@c_okenwa

Please check your wallets & join our next discussion!