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View Full Version : Don't Build a Database of Ruin




DamianTV
08-29-2012, 01:50 AM
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/29/0329219/dont-build-a-database-of-ruin


"Paul Ohm writes in Harvard Business Review that businesses today are building perfect digital dossiers of their customers, massive data stores containing thousands of facts about every member of our society. He says these databases will grow to connect every individual to at least one closely guarded secret. 'This might be a secret about a medical condition, family history, or personal preference. It is a secret that, if revealed, would cause more than embarrassment or shame; it would lead to serious, concrete, devastating harm,' writes Ohm. 'And these companies are combining their data stores, which will give rise to a single, massive database. I call this the Database of Ruin. Once we have created this database, it is unlikely we will ever be able to tear it apart.' Consider the most famous recent example of big data's utility in invading personal privacy: Target's analytics team can determine which shoppers are pregnant, and even predict their delivery dates, by detecting subtle shifts in purchasing habits. 'In the absence of intervention, soon companies will know things about us that we do not even know about ourselves. This is the exciting possibility of Big Data, but for privacy, it is a recipe for disaster.' According to Ohm, if we stick to our current path, the Database of Ruin will become an inevitable fixture of our future landscape, one that will be littered with lives ruined by the exploitation of data assembled for profit. The only way we avoid this is if companies learn to say, 'no' to some of the privacy-invading innovations they're pursuing. 'The lesson is plain: compete vigorously and beat your competitors in every legitimate way, except when it comes to privacy invasion. Too many companies have learned this lesson the hard way, launching invasive new services that have triggered class action lawsuits, Congressional inquiries, and media firestorms.'"


One of the better comments on this article was this:


He (Orwell) missed a vital element when writing 1984. Looking at the oppressive governments of the time and the rise of extensive government monitoring, it was easy to imagine governments of the future would be able to take it to an extreme. He completly failed to see the rising power and influence of commercial interests, motivated not by power but by money.

Indy Vidual
08-29-2012, 02:06 AM
Great topic/article, thanks.
One of the better comments on this article...

...He completely failed to see the rising power and influence of commercial interests, motivated not by power but by money.

Of course, some companies/top-level owners are motivated by both power and money.

Lot's to discuss here, should be an active topic. For example:
Private companies have the right to gather data and sell it, correct?
Other companies gain an advantage by respecting your privacy...

tangent4ronpaul
08-29-2012, 03:51 AM
We have a thread on this somewhere. I specifically remember the predicting delivery date part and it was a year or two ago.

One real threat, is that while gvmt is forbidden from collecting some types of info, buying that same information from a private company is just fine.

-t

Natural Citizen
08-29-2012, 06:23 AM
Private companies are government. What? They're not?

They're people too with all of the gifts of constitution.

pcosmar
08-29-2012, 06:45 AM
Private companies are government. What? They're not?

They're people too with all of the gifts of constitution.

I do hope you are being sarcastic.
:(

Natural Citizen
08-29-2012, 07:07 AM
I do hope you are being sarcastic.
:(

Nope. They have the gift of constitution. Anyone is welcome to prove otherwise. Good luck.

Here's a good place to start waking up to how it came to be.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkzgnLQo34k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6FY3YlxND4&playnext=1&list=PL8BC6DECEA8F9 4F06&feature=results_main

newbitech
08-29-2012, 07:10 AM
http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w465/newbitech/shadowrun.jpg

idiom
08-29-2012, 07:11 AM
In that case is there a reason an individual cannot assemble a database?

Our concepts of reasonable privacy need to change.

A database like that is trivially easy to put together. You don't even need secrets, just a show up in a few different databases with entirely different information and datamining software will correlate them pretty quickly.

If you want to stay off the scope then you need to be putting enough bogus data out there to not leave a gaping hole.

Information is not power, money is not power, but the exchange rate with power is pretty stable.

HOLLYWOOD
08-29-2012, 08:06 AM
Disinformation is King... use it

The government tracks your every move though a plethora of mandated leashes... Drivers licenses/vehicle-voter registrations, Utility bills, mobile phones, Credit Cards, Credit Ratings, property taxes, Income Taxes, emails/communications, license plate scanners, video cameras on intersections and highways, facial recognitions, etc. Many corporations sell your info/usage statics, etc.

Disinformation/Misinformation/Cash are King... that's why government sets a point out. to report and/or punish if you use them. But the hypocrisy of the phony rule of law, it's okay for .gov to Lie, Cheat, & Steal, ...commit their multitude of crimes.

newbitech
08-29-2012, 08:24 AM
so the image i posted was a screen shot from the 1993 game 'shadowrun' for SNES. I have the ROM on emulator :)