Are Privacy Activists Anti-Technology?

from the sometimes... dept

Highlighting the trouble of categorizing an entire group of people under one label, Declan McCullough's latest column is talking about how certain privacy activists seem less like privacy activists and a lot more like anti-technology Luddites. The article demonstrates that "privacy activists" don't have a single overarching position on things - and some groups seem to focus on alerting people to potential privacy problems due to regulations, corporate practices and technologies, while others are trying to get certain technologies banned outright. History has shown that that's not going to happen. Technology doesn't go away - and it's not inherently bad or good. A much more effective plan would be to educate people to the risks that certain technologies present, and let them make up their own minds. In fact, it's likely that some companies, realizing an opportunity in new privacy threats, may come along with their own technologies to help protect privacy as well.

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