Privacy has been defined in many ways. The right to tell your story your own way. The right to have control over your personal information. The right to be left alone. There's a reason we have T-shirts that say "dance like no one is watching". We censor ourselves when we're being watched. But if knowledge is power, then asymmetries in knowledge must lead to asymmetries in power. Privacy is a human right but it's also a collective good - something we need to respect and support, even if we do not personally feel the need to exercise it. Today I'll explore why privacy is essential, how it is being threatened, and what we can do to reclaim it with Carissa Véliz, a professor of philosophy and author of the wonderful and important book, Privacy is Power.
Interview Notes
Carissa’s website: https://www.carissaveliz.com/
Privacy is Power: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673341/privacy-is-power-by-carissa-veliz/
My review of her book: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/privacy-is-power-review/
The Ethics of Privacy and Surveillance: https://www.oxford-aiethics.ox.ac.uk/blog/new-book-ethics-privacy-and-surveillance
TEDx: The Case for Ending Data Economy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luCXlPYrTP4
Google’s Don’t Be Evil motto history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil
Give Thanks & Donate! https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/give-thanks-donate/
Further Info
Help me reach more people! https://fdsd.me/awareness2
Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna
Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book
Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter
Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons
Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch
Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons
Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support
Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/
Table of Contents
Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show.
0:00:31: Give Thanks & Donate!
0:01:27: Follow me on Bluesky
0:02:06: Interview setup
0:04:17: What inspired you to write this book?
0:07:04: What impacts has your book had? Did any response surprise you?
0:10:01: When researching the book, what surveillance methods most surprised you?
0:13:31: How and when did all this surveillance start?
0:15:40: Are behavior ads really more effective than contextual ads?
0:19:04: Is it possible to have privacy and still target ads?
0:22:08: What's your take on Google's Privacy Sandbox concept?
0:23:57: Why is the 'notice and consent' model such a failure?
0:28:14: What's your take on the notion of data sovereignty?
0:30:09: Why is privacy a collective good that we all need to protect?
0:32:12: How does asymmetry in knowledge lead to asymmetry in power?
0:34:06: Are we at risk of normalizing surveillance for future generations?
0:37:09: What will it take to trigger a surveillance backlash?
0:40:21: What can we learn from history about overzealous data collection?
0:43:35: How will AI technology impact our privacy?
0:49:30: Can we reap the benefits of our data without giving up privacy?
0:52:45: How do we manifest a society that values and respects privacy?
0:56:15: Interview wrap-up
0:58:36: Still celebrating 400th episode!
0:59:02: Looking ahead
Interview Notes
Carissa’s website: https://www.carissaveliz.com/
Privacy is Power: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673341/privacy-is-power-by-carissa-veliz/
My review of her book: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/privacy-is-power-review/
The Ethics of Privacy and Surveillance: https://www.oxford-aiethics.ox.ac.uk/blog/new-book-ethics-privacy-and-surveillance
TEDx: The Case for Ending Data Economy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luCXlPYrTP4
Google’s Don’t Be Evil motto history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil
Give Thanks & Donate! https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/give-thanks-donate/
Further Info
Help me reach more people! https://fdsd.me/awareness2
Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna
Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book
Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter
Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons
Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch
Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons
Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support
Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/
Table of Contents
Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show.
0:00:31: Give Thanks & Donate!
0:01:27: Follow me on Bluesky
0:02:06: Interview setup
0:04:17: What inspired you to write this book?
0:07:04: What impacts has your book had? Did any response surprise you?
0:10:01: When researching the book, what surveillance methods most surprised you?
0:13:31: How and when did all this surveillance start?
0:15:40: Are behavior ads really more effective than contextual ads?
0:19:04: Is it possible to have privacy and still target ads?
0:22:08: What's your take on Google's Privacy Sandbox concept?
0:23:57: Why is the 'notice and consent' model such a failure?
0:28:14: What's your take on the notion of data sovereignty?
0:30:09: Why is privacy a collective good that we all need to protect?
0:32:12: How does asymmetry in knowledge lead to asymmetry in power?
0:34:06: Are we at risk of normalizing surveillance for future generations?
0:37:09: What will it take to trigger a surveillance backlash?
0:40:21: What can we learn from history about overzealous data collection?
0:43:35: How will AI technology impact our privacy?
0:49:30: Can we reap the benefits of our data without giving up privacy?
0:52:45: How do we manifest a society that values and respects privacy?
0:56:15: Interview wrap-up
0:58:36: Still celebrating 400th episode!
0:59:02: Looking ahead
Activity