24 thoughts on “PRIVACY, MEASURABILITY, ISN’T DEAD By Patrick Gage Kelley

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    I don’t see how anyone in this country can believe we won’t have LESS privacy 10 years from now, so I am definitely in the US group that thinks that way. The fact that the countries where people are still optimistic are those like China where they don’t have much (if any) privacy now probably skews that vote.

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  2. Deb

    I suppose it depends on what your definition of “privacy” is. In the U.S., we seem to have more personal privacy now—in the sense that who you live with, who you love, how you express your sexuality with other consenting adults is usually not subject to the sort of policing and invasion of privacy that it was a couple of generations ago. On the other hand, where any of us go, what we buy, what links we click on, what books we download, who we follow and “like” on social media are all being tracked and monetized.

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    1. wolf

      Deb, I see it as you do – the databases of information on us are unbelievable!
      The question is:
      Who will use that info – for what?
      And then I read about real tracking, where they not only know where you are but also at what ad or shopping window you’re just looking.
      Feels Science Fiction like.

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    2. george Post author

      Deb, I agree with your analysis. Personal freedoms expanded in the last 20 year–legalization of gay marriage, LGBTQ recognition, etc.–but all sorts of malware on computers and phones skyrocketed! You’re right about our movements and buying choices being tracked…and monetized.

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      1. Jeff Meyerson

        So true. As soon as Jackie looks at something online, whether it is a Marriott Hotel or something on Amazon or Macy’s, the targeted ads begin. If you’ve ever bought anything, the algorithms remember it and won’t let you forget it. If you look up airline flights, or hotel availability, or an author, or a sweater or shoes, doesn’t matter. It’s out there and your ads are coming. So anyone who thinks their opinions on social media are private at all, you are kidding yourself.

      2. george Post author

        Jeff, online retail websites are just as interested in what you browse as in what you eventually buy. They’re studying the factors–colors, size, shape, discounts, etc.–that affect your buying decisions. We’re all guinea pigs when we shop online. The Marketing Masters study everything we do!

  3. Patti Abbott

    If I talk on the phone about something I need to buy, it shows up in various places (Facebook page usually) pretty quickly. Alexa is listening. My credit card was used this week and I had to cancel it. My WIFI connection says weak security on my cellphone and I don’t know how to fix it. I guess the new IOS I updated did that. It is a daily battle trying to protect myself from various issues. So that tells you where I am on this. You need a Patrick in your life to feel safe and most of us have none.

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    1. george Post author

      Patti, I’m amazed at Patrick’s passwords for his phone and his various computers: they look like 39AS0ZPTRICQ299XP!589&. Yes, it’s a comfort to have a PhD. in Computer Science (and access to all the secret GOOGLE stuff) in the family.

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      1. Jeff Meyerson

        Yeah, but then you need to remember them all! It was funny, we finally got around to the first episode of the Spanish series MONEY HEIST last night. They invade the Spanish Mint, take everyone’s cell phones, and demand their PIN numbers. When they finally get the idiotic Head of the Mint to cooperate (a gun to the head), his PIN is ‘1234’! I didn’t blame the guy for laughing.

      2. george Post author

        Jeff, I should really upgrade all of our passwords to the super secure ones Patrick uses. I hate being hacked. It’s happened a couple of times and the process to getting back to Normal is painful.

      3. Jeff Meyerson

        Jackie just reminded me of that guy who forgot his password and can’t get his Bitcoin millions. Brilliant!

      4. george Post author

        Jeff, Patrick says there’s super secure software that can keep track of you passwords and protect them. When Patrick is here for Mother’s Day, I think I might have him set it up for us.

  4. wolf

    OT:
    When I just clicked on the Kelley homepage instead of that video of Patrick (well done btw – i’ll have to look up more info on Europe) I saw youtube with a fantastic video of Jennifer Warnes singing First we take Manhattan.
    Really crazy, but just what I needed.

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      1. wolf

        No problem, on the second try I got Patrick’s video – must have been one of those glitches …
        Re blocking in the EU:
        The EU forces certain rules on the sites – if they don’t want to follow them they can’t show their stuff here. Happens even with newspapers.

  5. Michael Padgett

    Yep, privacy is vanishing, and yet we give so much of it away. Yesterday I got an email from Google advising me that some of my passwords have been compromised, and they’re all passwords that I’ve told Google to remember. They say they’re not responsible. Right. Fortunately I never have Google remember passwords unless they’re unimportant.

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  6. Rick Robinson

    My opinion is that privacy began a more rapid decline in the 80s, with the advent of the personal computer in so many homes. Then as software developers “dumbed down” programs to make them easier to use (that is, less difficult for people who didn’t want to learn to use computers) and the way they were used expanded to business tasks, from banking to shopping, privacy declined rapidly until with the coming of smart phones it’s about dead.

    The only “social media” we use is email and the internet for site access, but that’s more than enough to put us on the Big Radar. If we used Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all the rest, God knows if anything we did would be private. Fortunately, we do nothing on the computer that would embarrass us or harm us if known, with the exception of accessing bank, and we have strong passwords and checks on that. We still go into the branch for some things.

    We probably have three dozen different passwords, many of the “difficult, secure” type you show Patrick having. I use the Keychain app for them and have a typed list not kept on the computer for backup. Still, security is an issue, and privacy also. Then again, how much privacy was there when, as a kid, my parents phone was on a party line?

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    1. george Post author

      Rick, we make a Faustian Bargain when we use technology. Sure, it makes plenty of things possible: portable cell phones, Internet access, online shopping, etc. But, it comes with a price: tracking, data mining, and monitoring. I have a very small Internet footprint and I want to keep it that way. You’re right about Party Lines. People listened in on their neighbors all the time!

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  7. Cap'n Bob Napier

    Is this the same Patrick who was going to undo my comments from Moderation?

    Twice this past week I got calls from some fools wanting to buy my house! The second one claimed we’d been looking into it! I told them both the same thing: one million dollars and it’s yours!

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    1. george Post author

      Bob, Patrick plans to be home for Mother’s Day so I’ll have him look into the WORDPRESS Moderation problem. We get snail mail, email, and phone calls about inducements to get us to sell our house. The housing market here is red hot so the Real Estate folks are looking for properties to buy and sell. There’s a lot of flipping going on.

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