Good story on an issue that people need to think about more. I Liked the linked NYT piece also.

As a high techie myself, I always wondered about “Ring” when they were advertised as a startup. I remember seeing their product offerings thinking “Nah they will never be successful”, because any hobbyist could knock up things offering similar to the advertised functionality. Now I wonder if their apparent success is not based on functionality which was not advertised.

Besides the Matrix, another favourite movie of mine was “Demolition man”. This was pretty much tongue in cheek light entertainment, yet it hit the nail on the head, set in a ridiculous world that had emerged after a single global corporate entity (Taco Bell!) had taken complete control. The movie was hilarious, as it was from our point of view at the time, completely ridiculous and laughable, but now we see a real possibility we are actually on that ridiculous path, though which will be the corporate victor is not clear yet, it is not so funny, and evermore relevant.

I think it has to be accepted privacy is in the process of expiring, and there is very little we can do to stop it. BUT I believe it is not too late to rescue an ancestor of it, only possible if we have in place people-driven, open, non-profit distributed ledger type solutions, alternatives to those offered by corporates, and by those, we will at least be able to choose to be in control of our data, rather than have all the choices made for us by corporates, to suit their interests rather than ours. Ai could be a formidable weapon for or against us. If we want it to be for us, then we better make sure to seize this opportunity to have it, because after a profit driven monopoly takes hold, there will be no chance to ever change.