Security News > 2024 > June > Online Privacy and Overfishing

In the mid-20th century, scientists began noticing that the number of fish in the ocean-so vast as to underlie the phrase "There are plenty of fish in the sea"-had started declining rapidly due to overfishing.

Just as certain fish populations in the world's oceans have fallen 80 percent, from previously having fallen 80 percent, from previously having fallen 80 percent, our expectations of privacy have similarly fallen precipitously.

The pervasive nature of modern technology makes surveillance easier than ever before, while each successive generation of the public is accustomed to the privacy status quo of their youth.

Shifting baselines are at the heart of our collective loss of privacy.

The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that our right to privacy depends on whether we have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Instead of comparing to a shifting baseline, we need to step back and look at what a healthy technological ecosystem would look like: one that respects people's privacy rights while also allowing companies to recoup costs for services they provide.

News URL

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/06/online-privacy-and-overfishing.html