Humans as an entire species are never going to agree 100% on anything, ever.  I don’t care if it’s religion, politics, privacy, or margarine over butter.  There will ALWAYS be people on either side of every fence.  Try to imagine the worst thing in the world, and there will be someone out there doing it, or cheering on those who do.

At best, we can come to a majority agreement, but that will only ever be regionalised by either geographic location, or racial beliefs and bias.

So why has Prism caused such a stir?  Are you actually surprised this was going on? There are those who want access to data, and those who want to protect it.  There are those who want to use the data for the common good, and those who want to use it for their own profit, or worse.  And “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

I’m not overly interested in your opinion, just as you’re not overly interested in mine.  I’m OK with that.  The only time we have an interest in this stuff is either when people totally agree with us, or – in our arrogance – we feel like trying to change the opinions of others.  Like we’re the ones who are right.

In the end, the bad guys (in whatever form ‘bad’ is for you) only have access to what we gave them.  An exception to that rule is when an organisation loses stuff they should be protecting.  Like in a breach for example.  Preventing this from happening is what I, and many others, have devoted our careers to, but the most we can ever achieve is a slight reduction in the risk to your privacy, and possibly some form of compensation for you if your privacy is lost.

Yes they should protect data, and should be liable for not doing so, but if a thief wants it, it’s gone.

While you have every right to expect privacy, and I agree with the laws and regulations supporting that privacy, you cannot EXPECT privacy given the bad elements.  Analogy; the law protects me against being mugged, but I don’t put myself in places or situations where mugging is more likely.  I may be the victim, and have all the rights of the victim, but I’m still missing my wallet.

This will not apply to the Prism case, where there will be no class action suit against the government, and whatever smoke and mirrors they come up with to reassure you that it will never happen again, it’s just that, smoke and mirrors.

The key to your personal privacy has always, and will always, rest with you.  You are responsible for your data, and whinging about governmental abuse of power is not going to change the fact that you posted stuff on FB, you took inappropriate pictures, and YOU chose to share your bank account details to an online provider of services etc.

Do I think the NSA was right in what they did, or if that moron Edward Snowden was right in what HE did?  That’s irrelevant, because I have nothing online in any form that would embarrass me if it were revealed, or unprotected (by deferred lability) if it was stolen.

Can you say the same?

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