rock over London. rock on, Chicago.

I went to a Miller Center thing on privacy with Cat the other day. yesterday. Tuesday.
the email was deceiving. the fucking email was deceiving, man. I expected to see a debate, instead I get to watch no-neck Ray Suarez referee a debate on PBS. so we watched it on the big screen.
PBS on the big screen.
irregardless of whether I could have watched it at home or not, a couple of UVa professors hosted a Q&A afterwards. interesting conversation.

the debate’s resolution was: In the war against terrorism, and with advances in technology, Americans need to lower their expectations of privacy.

so security vs. privacy ended up being bandied back and forth by four crackers, the most interesting of whom was the British politician, John Lord Alderdice. mostly because he’s a politician, and the rest were think-tank types that hold constitutional law degrees. unlike the three of them, Alderdice knows how to work a crowd. he was for privacy, by the way.

both sides actually made good points. I think, though, the main point I took away from it was this – and this is paraphrased and I don’t remember who said it, but:
to give up privacy is absolute. but there can be no absolution in security.

you can’t guarantee security. it’s impossible. the harder you try, the more unbearable your security will become. honest to god.  

I’ve grown more and more interested in privacy rights recently. I only have a layman’s understanding of it. it’s definitely more of a comfort level thing.

anyhoo. everything is recorded or can be traced now. all the minutia of our daily lives is logged on servers. email. and credit cards. and cell phones, irregardless of whether the government has access to those records, those records exist. and all of those records are the result of a desire for convenience. no?

I think it’s safe to say that most aren’t willing to give up convenience.
at the same time, consumers should have the right to think that companies that gather information as a tenant of business (I think I’ve been here before) won’t turn your profile into the government. I agree. but I’m discontent with thinking business will do the right thing. I also think it’s more likely business will cave to government than protect its customer base, because caving is, and I mean this, it’s an ultimately more profitable business model. all of which is why I’m confused when people complain about priavcy without thinking about how much we contribute to the lack of it.
I’m guilty of this too. obviously.
if you’re that concerned with being tracked, recorded, then cut out the paper trail. cell phones and credit cards. you somehow made it through the day without plastic before. you could do it again. couldn’t you?

obviously agian, I’m not willing to do that; I keep a blog, for christ’s sake. and I’m completely guilty of everything I’ve railed about. but I also believe that with technological advances, privacy changes. it doesn’t disappear, but it changes. expectations will ultimately lower. and most people won’t care. most people don’t care right now, matter of fact. 
everything is too convenient to care.

I am one pessimistic motherfucker.

and this website is solid. solid.