The data privacy paradox and digital demand • Hacker News Board

Re: The data privacy paradox and digital demand

#11

Post by ajb » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

There's a book, 'Savages' by Joe Kane, about the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador. The Huaorani were considerably disrupted by the activities of the oil companies, which were polluting their land. The Huao were aware of this, and lobbied the government and journalists to stop it, etc. But nevertheless if there was a food giveaway, or work, in an oil company compound, they would nevertheless take the food or work, allowing themselves to become dependent on them.

In the book this explained as being part of their culture, since on a day to day basis the hunter who brought in food that day gained prestige, and since the oil companies could easily source cheap food, the Huao partly deferred to them even though they knew that the oil companies acted against their interests.

At the time I thought that western people would not fall for such a thing, but maybe it's a more general pattern of human behavior

Re: The data privacy paradox and digital demand

#12

Post by nine_k » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 4:44 PM UTC

ajb wrote: post #11

There's a book, 'Savages' by Joe Kane, about the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador. The Huaorani were considerably disrupted by the activities of the oil companies, which were polluting their land. The Huao were aware of this, and lobbied the government and journalists to stop it, etc. But nevertheless if there was a food giveaway, or work, in an oil company compound, they would nevertheless take the food or work, allowing t…

If their interest was to (also) procure food, the oil company acted in their interest.

The industrial civilization is taking over the Earth not just because it is strong and aggressive, but also because it provides comforts and security to people.

With that, damaging the environment is neither pleasant nor wise. The very society made possible by the industrial civilization pressures the industry to become cleaner, with some success.

Re: The data privacy paradox and digital demand

#13

Post by ajb » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #12

ajb wrote: post #11

There's a book, 'Savages' by Joe Kane, about the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador. The Huaorani were considerably disrupted by the activities of the oil companies, which were polluting their land. The Huao were aware of this, and lobbied the government and journalists to stop it, etc. But nevertheless if there was a food giveaway, or work, in an oil company compound, they would nevertheless take the food or work, allowing t…

If their interest was to (also) procure food, the oil company acted in their interest. The industrial civilization is taking over the Earth not just because it is strong and aggressive, but also because it provides comforts and security to people. With that, damaging the environment is neither pleasant nor wise. The very society made possible by the industrial civilization pressures the industry to become cleaner, wi…

It was a lot more complex than my summary above. The book is a good read, if you have the time.

Re: The data privacy paradox and digital demand

#14

Post by mehak402 » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 4:59 AM UTC

The data privacy paradox is very real and I feel we are all guilty of it. There are a couple of reasons that come to my mind.

Firstly, we are short-sighted. We don't understand the consequences of our data being out in the open. Cybercrimes are so sophisticated that probably sharing a family member's email for a small gain is enough to put the entire family at risk of fraud. But at that time we only see the immediate reward, not the long-term risk.

Secondly, we are complacent. Because the scale at which data breaches, people have started feeling that they are going to get attacked regardless of whether they implement safety measures or not.

Privacy is not as important to people as we think it is. Small rewards lure them into sharing important data with ease.