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Be Paranoid About Privacy Be Paranoid About Privacy
(about 1 hour later)
This week, Google Maps could not find me, and it seemed really pissed off.This week, Google Maps could not find me, and it seemed really pissed off.
I switched all of the location-access buttons on my iPhone from “While Using the App” to “Ask Next Time,” causing my most useful app to launch a series of increasingly desperate pop-up entreaties, begging me to make my life easier by letting it automatically locate me (rather than giving it access to my location only when I type in where I am and where I want to go).I switched all of the location-access buttons on my iPhone from “While Using the App” to “Ask Next Time,” causing my most useful app to launch a series of increasingly desperate pop-up entreaties, begging me to make my life easier by letting it automatically locate me (rather than giving it access to my location only when I type in where I am and where I want to go).
I cannot imagine its stalker rage if I had clicked “Never” allow the app to track my location.I cannot imagine its stalker rage if I had clicked “Never” allow the app to track my location.
Tough luck, Google Maps. Because, as 2019 ends, I am breaking up with opt-in by taking up a well-worn Silicon Valley bromide as my digital mantra: Only the paranoid survive.Tough luck, Google Maps. Because, as 2019 ends, I am breaking up with opt-in by taking up a well-worn Silicon Valley bromide as my digital mantra: Only the paranoid survive.
That was, of course, the motto made famous by Intel’s legendary founder and former chief executive, Andy Grove, who later turned the line into a book that was actually about being hypervigilant as inevitable “crisis points” occur at your company.That was, of course, the motto made famous by Intel’s legendary founder and former chief executive, Andy Grove, who later turned the line into a book that was actually about being hypervigilant as inevitable “crisis points” occur at your company.
Mr. Grove saw much trouble in becoming lax, especially after triumph. “Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction,” wrote the canny entrepreneur who immigrated from Hungary having escaped Nazi death camps and later Soviet oppression. “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure.”Mr. Grove saw much trouble in becoming lax, especially after triumph. “Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction,” wrote the canny entrepreneur who immigrated from Hungary having escaped Nazi death camps and later Soviet oppression. “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure.”
It’s still a good piece of advice, but these days it seems as though there is an entirely new way of reading that line when it comes to a different issue in tech: The surveillance economy that continues to spread like a virus worldwide, even as consumers are less aware than ever of its implications.It’s still a good piece of advice, but these days it seems as though there is an entirely new way of reading that line when it comes to a different issue in tech: The surveillance economy that continues to spread like a virus worldwide, even as consumers are less aware than ever of its implications.
That includes me, who should know better. I have two-factor authentication. I cover my camera lens on my computer. I redo all my security settings regularly. And, if you read any of my columns this year, you know I am wary of — you might even say mean about — various consumer abuses by giant social-media companies, search behemoths and testosterone-jacked e-commerce companies.That includes me, who should know better. I have two-factor authentication. I cover my camera lens on my computer. I redo all my security settings regularly. And, if you read any of my columns this year, you know I am wary of — you might even say mean about — various consumer abuses by giant social-media companies, search behemoths and testosterone-jacked e-commerce companies.
Still, as much as I know about tech, I’m often lazy and use its tools without care, even as each day seems to bring new headlines about privacy incursions sometimes done for commercial reasons, sometimes for malevolent ones, and sometimes just as a result of tech’s latest changes.Still, as much as I know about tech, I’m often lazy and use its tools without care, even as each day seems to bring new headlines about privacy incursions sometimes done for commercial reasons, sometimes for malevolent ones, and sometimes just as a result of tech’s latest changes.
The common denominator? The data we generate every day that they then suck up like Dyson vacuum cleaners on steroids.The common denominator? The data we generate every day that they then suck up like Dyson vacuum cleaners on steroids.
Privacy has been losing badly, as users have become the online equivalent of cheap dates to these giant tech companies. We trade the lucrative digital essence of ourselves for much less in the form of free maps or nifty games or compelling communications apps.Privacy has been losing badly, as users have become the online equivalent of cheap dates to these giant tech companies. We trade the lucrative digital essence of ourselves for much less in the form of free maps or nifty games or compelling communications apps.
We’re digitally sloppy, even if it can be very dangerous, as evidenced by a disturbing New York Times story this week about an Emirati secure messaging app called ToTok, which is used by millions across the Middle East and has also recently become one of the most downloaded in the United States.We’re digitally sloppy, even if it can be very dangerous, as evidenced by a disturbing New York Times story this week about an Emirati secure messaging app called ToTok, which is used by millions across the Middle East and has also recently become one of the most downloaded in the United States.
The name was obviously used to place the app adjacent to the hugely popular TikTok, already under scrutiny by American officials because of its Chinese origins and possible link to the Beijing government. In the case of ToTok, according to the Times report, it turns out that it is a spy tool “used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to try to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones.”The name was obviously used to place the app adjacent to the hugely popular TikTok, already under scrutiny by American officials because of its Chinese origins and possible link to the Beijing government. In the case of ToTok, according to the Times report, it turns out that it is a spy tool “used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to try to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones.”
The app’s skein of developers is opaque, but apparently it is controlled by a sinister sounding company linked to the Emirate government called DarkMatter. (Yes, that is actually its name, akin to calling the villain in a movie Mr. Really Bad Guy.)The app’s skein of developers is opaque, but apparently it is controlled by a sinister sounding company linked to the Emirate government called DarkMatter. (Yes, that is actually its name, akin to calling the villain in a movie Mr. Really Bad Guy.)
After the Times inquiry, Google and Apple, United States tech giants that are the prime distributors of apps worldwide, removed ToTok from their online stores. But the damage was done — and by the users themselves.After the Times inquiry, Google and Apple, United States tech giants that are the prime distributors of apps worldwide, removed ToTok from their online stores. But the damage was done — and by the users themselves.
“You don’t need to hack people to spy on them if you can get people to willingly download this app to their phone,” Patrick Ward, who did a forensic analysis for the Times, said in the report. “By uploading contacts, video chats, location, what more intelligence do you need?”“You don’t need to hack people to spy on them if you can get people to willingly download this app to their phone,” Patrick Ward, who did a forensic analysis for the Times, said in the report. “By uploading contacts, video chats, location, what more intelligence do you need?”
Indeed, anyone who wants to spy needs very little, as all of us continue availing ourselves to tech’s many wonders while promiscuously shedding our data.Indeed, anyone who wants to spy needs very little, as all of us continue availing ourselves to tech’s many wonders while promiscuously shedding our data.
That much was clear in the eye-opening investigation of smartphones by Times Opinion last week called “One Nation, Tracked.” The Opinion report was even more dire than the ToTok story: One dataset of 12 million phones with 50 billion location pings from a basic location-data company showed clearly that there is no such thing as privacy. At all. Ever. Not on the beaches of Southern California, not at the Pentagon, not at the White House.That much was clear in the eye-opening investigation of smartphones by Times Opinion last week called “One Nation, Tracked.” The Opinion report was even more dire than the ToTok story: One dataset of 12 million phones with 50 billion location pings from a basic location-data company showed clearly that there is no such thing as privacy. At all. Ever. Not on the beaches of Southern California, not at the Pentagon, not at the White House.
“Now, as the decade ends, tens of millions of Americans, including many children, find themselves carrying spies in their pockets during the day and leaving them beside their beds at night — even though the corporations that control their data are far less accountable than the government would be,” noted the report, which included a look at how to track President Trump, the citizens of Pasadena and protesters in Hong Kong, as well as how to try to stop it all. This is what freaked me out enough go back and tighten the security on my own phone. “Now, as the decade ends, tens of millions of Americans, including many children, find themselves carrying spies in their pockets during the day and leaving them beside their beds at night — even though the corporations that control their data are far less accountable than the government would be,” noted the report, which included a look at how to track President Trump, the citizens of Pasadena and protesters in Hong Kong, as well as how to try to stop it all. This is what freaked me out enough to go back and tighten the security on my own phone.
Yes, it’s up to us to protect ourselves, since there are no federal laws that actually do it. Europe has been far ahead on privacy with its General Data Protection Regulation, but things will finally start to change for Californians like me when the California Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect next week.Yes, it’s up to us to protect ourselves, since there are no federal laws that actually do it. Europe has been far ahead on privacy with its General Data Protection Regulation, but things will finally start to change for Californians like me when the California Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect next week.
The law will bring some relief, since it will give citizens of the state more control over personal data: we will know what is being collected, where it is sold and even the right to ask for such data to be deleted. It also adds special protections for minors, prohibiting the sale of personal information of those under 16 years old. (Enforcement starts in July, but it is still vulnerable to changes as it rolls out.)The law will bring some relief, since it will give citizens of the state more control over personal data: we will know what is being collected, where it is sold and even the right to ask for such data to be deleted. It also adds special protections for minors, prohibiting the sale of personal information of those under 16 years old. (Enforcement starts in July, but it is still vulnerable to changes as it rolls out.)
California’s law will become the de facto law of the land on privacy until the federal government acts, which is a long way from happening. Promises that bills will be rolled out in the House and Senate came and went this year.California’s law will become the de facto law of the land on privacy until the federal government acts, which is a long way from happening. Promises that bills will be rolled out in the House and Senate came and went this year.
Some legislators say 2020 will be the year it will all happen, but the record so far is not encouraging. Which is why I’ll opt out of waiting and keep fending off my app stalkers by myself. Only the paranoid survive, for sure, but so do the patient.Some legislators say 2020 will be the year it will all happen, but the record so far is not encouraging. Which is why I’ll opt out of waiting and keep fending off my app stalkers by myself. Only the paranoid survive, for sure, but so do the patient.
Follow @privacyproject on Twitter and The New York Times Opinion Section on Facebook and Instagram.Follow @privacyproject on Twitter and The New York Times Opinion Section on Facebook and Instagram.