Digital privacy advocate drops off the grid while giving dire warnings about corporate control of private information

For nearly half a year, Mark Farid will be completely offline.

The artist, during the course of a panel discussion entitled “Data Shadow: Anonymity is our only right, and that is why it must be destroyed” at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, gave out all his social media login details to the audience. Within a few minutes, his digital self was gone.

In a bid to raise awareness on privacy, digital surveillance and technology, Farid decided to live without a digital footprint — he started using pay-as-you-go phones, paying for everything with cash and scrambling his IP address to lessen, if not totally eliminate, his digital presence.

According to him, the need for someone, or something, to regulate technology is apparent. Given the rapid advancement of technology nowadays, governments should prioritize regulating ethics and protecting the rights of citizens first more than technological growth.

“It could be as simple as modifying the ‘delete’ button on a computer or a phone, so that it actually does delete the information. If this is too difficult or expensive, it could encrypt the information, so it’s a bit harder for hackers, not governments, to access. Terms and conditions need to be clear and simple, so that corporations can’t hand over personal data to others at their discretion. The trouble about the internet is that it’s the perfect form of capitalism: completely privately owned, with a facade of being uncensored, free and democratic. But we are the commodity and our data is the currency. Regulating the internet is now seen as negative – but that has only been the attitude since it was swallowed by a few corporations, and they decide the code of conduct on the platforms.

“Educating children at school about how to use their phone and computers would also be a realistic step. We could teach them to maybe not use their real names on apps and websites.”

Or, perhaps, you could just relinquish your online identity, like Farid did. It may be an extreme measure, but if you value your privacy in this day of mass government surveillance, then this option might not be too far-fetched at all.

Source:

Telegraph.co.uk