Ask HN: Have we passed the tipping point? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have we passed the tipping point?

2 pointsyuvadam2 comments

Given the recent leaks that we have been graciously provided with by Edward Snowden, do you feel we have past a tipping point over the past few days?

Is it all hype that will vanish within a few days, or are you seriously considering one of the following?

- reducing usage of social/cloud services

- completely removing sensitive accounts (email) off third-party services

- migrating to self-hosted solutions rather than cloud-based providers

- increasing usage of encryption in day-to-day activity

I know some people who are deeply disturbed over the recent news, and I'm curious to try to gauge the feeling amongst the HN crowd. Feel free to share you thoughts and emotions regarding the state of the free web.

A "tipping point" with respect to the public-at-large? I doubt it. I'd like it if it were, but I don't think enough people care. I expect (sadly) for the buzz about this story to have completely disappeared off the radar of mainstream media by next week, and to die down even online shortly afterwards - except among extreme civil libertarian types and people who always get worked up over this stuff.

On a personal level, however, I'd say the answer is "yes". It won't be an overnight thing, and I can't say I'm going to abandon Gmail, G+, Facebook, etc. completely, but I will be making changes in how I manage certain things. Probably the most significant will be using pushing for more use of encryption and services like Tor and I2P, both for myself and among my friends and acquaintances.

One of my goals is to start a new cypherpunk / crypto-anarchist meetup / group in the Raleigh / Durham area, and start doing things like offering sessions / classes to the public on "How to use Tor" and "How to use I2P" and "How to use PGP" etc. along with political advocacy.

For some people, probably. It looks like the programs are supported by a majority of the population, however, even with the violations of privacy. Apparently nobody cares about privacy anymore, or they're so terrified of terrorists they're willing to hand over their rights.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/most-americans-suppor...

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