Blockchain technology is a solution to the problem of privacy in Big Data
Are you sure you know how your data is being used and monetised? If you did, you would think twice before revealing personal information so freely
Just as you might think twice before eating chicken nuggets once you see how they are prepared, you probably wouldn’t be willing to reveal your personal information after finding out how it is used and monetised.
Freedom has become one of the most Bitcoin Legacy commodified assets in the world, and year after year the internet continues to erode it.
We live in a world where we have to deal with 5,000 words of terms and conditions when we buy shoes. Crucial details about what companies do with our data are buried in piles of legal jargon, leading most of us to click ‚I agree‘ without thinking about the consequences.
In other cases, companies are unacceptably opaque about how our information is being used. This is a big problem when companies offer their services ‚for free’… on the condition that we give them our email address, phone number and other details.
A scene from the recent sci-fi TV series Maniac perfectly describes where the world is headed. A character is given the choice between paying for an underground ticket or receiving it for free in exchange for some personal information. Predictably, he opts for the second option.
This is basically what we do every day: we give our data to corporations, big and small, sacrificing our privacy and freedom in the process.
We have reached the point where individual states have had to step in with rules and regulations designed to protect the general public, as a good portion of them are not aware of what they are accepting when they tick a seemingly innocuous box on a website.
Moreover, the fact that tech giants are worried about these taps being closed is significant. When Apple unveiled a new feature that allows users to disable the monitoring of their activities on apps and websites, Facebook launched an aggressive PR campaign against such measures. The social network claimed that its initiative was intended to protect small businesses that rely on the platform for targeted advertising. The more cynical might see it as a veiled attempt to protect the profits of a company accused of the most insidious and influential data mining in history.
Pandora’s box has been opened
We have opened Pandora’s box, and things are starting to change. The long-awaited discussions about our online privacy are emerging.
For more than 10 years now, we have had an abundance of financial freedom thanks to Bitcoin (BTC) and its competitors… but there is still much to be done in other areas of our society.
Last week, I went grocery shopping and spontaneously bought a moisturiser. When I got home, I did a Google search to find out more about the product. For the next seven days, I was bombarded with advertisements for moisturising creams on Facebook.
Like our health, wellbeing and careers, freedom is a personal responsibility that we need to monitor, maintain and protect, especially in the digital world where it can be easily sold in exchange for access to free services.
To feel free and safe in our homes, we rely on the privacy of our property, and the trustworthiness of our friends and neighbours. Government laws and housing association rules subscribe to these principles. However, we also entrust our financial privacy to institutions, trusting that they will be accountable to regulators and central banks. The reason Bitcoin was created in 2009 is that our expectations have not been met.
