Expand Your Mind: Lie, Cheat and Bully
by Miki Saxon
The world is certainly changing and not necessarily for the better. Not just banks, those constant whipping boys and deservedly so, but tech and the general population.
Google is a good example. It seems to have sidestepped its “do no evil” mantra simply by redefining ‘evil’ as it moves forward.
Google has increasingly found itself in the regulatory crosshairs as privacy advocates decry how it handles users’ personal information as it looks to maintain its dominance in search, which still makes up the bulk of its revenue.
Right up there on the privacy evil yardstick is Facebook, not in the US, where privacy is a joke, but in Germany where it’s law. Facebook claims that it is outside Germany’s jurisdiction, because only marketing is done in its German offices, while engineering is done in Ireland. Not everyone agrees.
In March, in response to the dispute, the European Union’s top advisory panel on privacy, the Article 29 Working Party, released an opinion that the collection of biometric data without the explicit consent of users was illegal.
For 20 years Craigslist has been held up as an example of doing good by doing well, but don’t kid yourself. It’s just another hypocritical bully that cons its users into thinking it’s one of the good guys.
This isn’t the first time Craigslist has claimed such violations. The Internet is littered with digital carcasses that once built on top of the listings site. Their pixelated tombstones are inscribed with one-liners that Craigslist killed access without any notice, or they were sent a cease-and-desist letter by Perkins Coie, a top corporate law firm that frequently represents Craigslist.
And now a word from the more personal side.
Cheating and using performance-enhancing drugs is nothing new in sports, but the blatant hypocrisy of Melky Cabrera took it to new heights. After he was named MVP in the All-Star game he said, “I think the one person that has the most influence on me is the Lord. He is the one that embraced me in terms of playing better.” I wonder if the Lord told him to embrace testosterone—he was suspended for 50 games—but he apologized, which these days makes it all OK.
What is your reaction to a coach who talked more than trash to one of his own players and excused his actions by saying sexual harassment was acceptable because it is part of the sport’s culture?
Over six days of competition, though, her team’s coach, Aris Bakhtanians, interrogated her on camera about her bra size, said “take off your shirt” and focused the team’s webcam on her chest, feet and legs. He leaned in over her shoulder and smelled her.
Of course, there is the easy accessibility of Twitter where people can revile their past employer or, from the comfort of their armchair, sit in judgment of those whose feats are so far beyond them 140 characters at a time.
Finally, a fascinating profile of Bruce Schneier and a look at trust in the digital age.
He is a cryptographer, blogger and iconoclast in the world of computer security, and his latest subject of inquiry is trust: how it is cultivated, destroyed and tweaked in the digital age.
Enjoy!
Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho
August 20th, 2012 at 9:32 am
I used to get Bruce’ Schneier’s Cryptography newsletter back in college. I lost my archive when I allowed my Yahoo email address to be cracked & stolen from me.
I have since learned to be much more vigilant in where I click and where I put my password.
August 20th, 2012 at 10:49 am
That’s a bummer.
My digital dinosaurism combined with a bit personal paranoia has protected me—so far.