The bigger problem for me is that as my data is being stored in the US by US companies and my countries laws don't apply - and the safeguards provided by the US constitution also don't apply. The NSA/FBI can do whatever they want with my data and have said as much[1]:
"He said reports about Prism contained "numerous inaccuracies". While admitting the government collected communications from internet firms, he said the policy only targets "non-US persons"."
I think we might start to see companies having data centres in multiple countries and allowing you to store your data in the one you choose or the one that follows your countries laws. Otherwise there will be an exodus of users from US internet companies.
Considering the enormous amount of data being collected and the relative ease of setting up a clean trail, this kind of spying makes it even easier for low/moderate-suspicion individuals to achieve secure communications.
For high suspicion individuals, this kind of surveillance makes it easy to create disinformation that appears to be real intel.
The workflow required to leave a realistic "clean" trail while simultaneously engaging in secure communication could be designed into a purpose-built linux distro.
That seems to be the intent of Tails [1]; see also [2].
I'm more excited about these recent revelations than shocked and appalled, because now it is finally a national conversation with real outrage behind it. I've been waiting for this for years. Being called crazy, paranoid, anti-American, etc for years for voicing concerns about this has led me to a position of vindication on some level; however small or petty that may be.
- In the case of a social network, have it decentralised and have user profiles and information hosted on the user's computer, and only accessible when logged into the social network and only by those that you have granted permission for. - Messaging could be directly between users, over an encrypted channel. If user A sends a message to user B it does not arrive until they connect their device to the internet. Only then does the secure exchange of a message occur. Group messaging is a more difficult problem. - Cloud storage: if storage devices get bigger, smaller and cheaper there's no reason why it couldn't become normal for people to have physical backup solutions built into their devices. Alternatively, completely encrypted cloud storage where only the user has the keys could become the norm.
The problem lies in consumer acceptance, education and also convenience. If nobody understands the technologies they use to power their lives, it's hard to communicate why things should be done alternatively. The EFF does a fantastic job of trying to protect our rights when it comes to technology, but I don't think consumers get it. More needs to be done. The analogy of a man coming into your house and reading your mail that's been posted through your door springs to mind. And finally, it has to be easy to do all these things in a private way. Better tools need to be created to allow us to securely store our information, communicate and perform tasks.
Out of these, I only have a gmail account. No personal data in it is real. I never email anyone I know in person from that account, nor I give it to anybody who knows me.
I think I'm on the safe side.
I operate similarly with my phone and basically everything else.
Fast forward ten years and an increasing number of people vomit their entire life online, constantly.
First it was the iMac era, then the iPhone era, now the iPad era. With every era, a new demographic is being pushed into this new data reality and our calls from the beginnings go unheard.
The thing is - we would really like to say "told you so", but it seems overly cynical by now. Especially considering that it's not just our wildest dreams, but also our worst nightmares coming true at an exponential pace.
And even more than that - we really like people getting onto "our thing", so calling for caution now has a whiff of asking for exclusivity after our nice little in-crowd thing was blown out of proportion.
I guess I should be more concerned with gmail...