One of the things that I have always been inspired by since first going to Planetwork’s first conference in 2000 is the potential of these tools do do good. Johannes posted this on the Empowered citizen after the London Bombings and is a great reminder to consider why digital identity is important to continue building. While we must continue building we also must think about what we are building and how it can be used. Below is a post I found a while back that reminds us we must think about the implications of the powers we build into these new gadgets.
Empowered connected citizens are what changes the terrorist dynamic.
As a Silicon Valley entrepreneur whose very life is centered around building things, not destroying them, I watch in utter disbelief and complete incomprehension. How can anyone’s goal be total destruction? How can any of them believe anything will come out of these acts, except for more destruction? What sick world view is that?
There is a clear line. There are those who build, and those who destroy. Those who construct, and those who destruct. Deep down, I feel there is little middle ground. You are either with us pushing forward for positive, constructive change, or against us, killing and burning. There cannot be a compromise.
Many asked the question last week: “what can I do, how can I help?” My answer is simple: “Keep building.” Whether you are in high-tech, building new companies, products and markets; or a street sweeper, helping to build a beautiful city; or a parent or teacher, building understanding and new lives; or wherever you are. We, the builders, can build more than they can ever destroy. We can build better and stronger. And we will. We, the builders, will prevail, and there is no doubt about that.
Some interesting issues from the CTO forum on the Entrepreneurship Blog.
Presence information Cell phone providers could exploit.
- Cellular providers know who you are and where you are as long as your cell phone is on. If you are with a group of people they could detect who you are with.
- The aggregate statistics and behaviors that could be mined from cell phone presence/position data must be worth billions.
- The identity and security implication are fun to think about. Your cell phone presence information becomes another part of your digital identity.
- How much presence information should a cell phone customer share with their peers?
- Maybe the customer would like to place delay loops for some of their contacts. Do you inform a peer that the information they see is delayed or do you want them to believe it is in real time? Perhaps you want you location to be fuzzy like consumer GPS. How fuzzy? It probably depends on who wants to know.
I was surprised Digital Identity wasn’t discussed.