The Internet Identity Workshop (IIW8) was held in May 2009 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Here’s my brief conference report.
Coaching moment: Like most developments, first comes an idea then a discussion, followed by an implementation and testing. Thankfully most people aren’t involved in these early stages when things may not work well, or may take more patience or tech skills than you have. That said, it’s good to know what’s on the horizon. It helps you be aware of tools that will help you when they become available, and knowing about these tools helps counter some of the spin from companies that want to “help you” protect yourself.
Mike Elgan blogged in Computerworld about Why you should digitize ‘everything’. In his post, he noted two reasons that triggered his thinking: moving and disasters. In his case, he downsized to be more mobile (a personal choice). The disaster was the Jesusita fire in Santa Barbara.* Elgan noted about his process:
Because much of our stuff was poorly organized, we slogged through every possession, every box, every drawer and considered what to do with every possession we own. Besides being extraordinarily time consuming, the process was also very difficult. When it comes to deciding whether to keep or discard something, where do you draw the line? Old holiday and birthday cards? OK, those can be discarded. Mother’s day cards from kids? Hmmm. Trophies? Yikes! There are a million items that make you feel a loss when you toss, but if you keep them, they’ll be buried unseen for decades.
It’s these same items that are irreplaceable after an unexpected fire, flood, hurricane or other regional or personal disaster.
The solution is to digitize everything. Here’s how.
While Elgan’s experience and advice is very practical, it also raises a larger unanswered question: how do we determine the value of a life writ large? Some might argue that when your stuff (house, furniture, belongings) is gone, and once we die, that’s it–there is no more to it here on earth. However, anyone that has moved away from or lost a really good friend or loved one, or a personally and deeply meaningful artifact or heirloom, the loss is devastating. Funerals are a way to acknowledge the loss, remember the influences of that life, and begin healing.
The question of value remains though. For practical reasons, our insurance company will assign a cost (according to the terms of your policy) for replacement of the physical thing. Similarly, insurance companies and courts may determine the cost of a life wrongfully taken. We know that’s not the right way to frame the question.
What’s lost? The teachings and wisdom, the reflections of accomplishments and memories of proud moments, the documentation or proof of something miraculous. These are not quantifiable, nor do they have a fixed place in history. They are the things that make us who we are as individuals, friends and lovers, and as a culture.
Coaching moment: Take a walk around your house. Is there a box or drawer that you haven’t opened in a few years? Do you remember what’s inside? Does it represent value to you or anyone in your life? If not, box and tape it up, then hand it to a trusted friend to dispose of. You have just lightened your life. Doesn’t that feel good?
If you’ve recently been through a disaster and lost valuables, set aside a couple of days (yes, put this on your calendar as “Do Not Disturb” time) and write stories about those things. If you get stuck or don’t know how to begin, try a description of what it was, and how you felt about it, or how it came to you. If you don’t have online accounts in which to put these things, ask friends to help you. The past and present is in your hands.
* A thank you to Mike for the tweet that helped me alert my friends who also live in the area. That was an unusual moment in time.
The spring Internet Identity Workshop is coming up in a couple of weeks, May 18-20. The organizers have extended regular registration prices for another week! If you are interested in Identity, and especially if you are working on developing identity-related technologies or services, membership web sites, or even if you’re just curious about what’s going on in this quickly evolving field, I invite you to join me at this event.
The conference is in Mountain View, between San Francisco and San Jose (do you know the way?). It’s organized as an unconference, which means the sessions are proposed until we get there. All sessions are decided by the participants on the days of the event. That way we all have an equal voice in learning, exploring, and teaching.
The conference ranges from the highly technical geeks and professionals to the interested and curious “newbies.” There will be demos on the last day, and plenty of people to ask questions of. This is a unique and still relatively small group, so the signal to noise is wonderful.
There is a lot to learn, and these are the folks you want to talk with. I encourage you to register today, and look forward to seeing you there!
A group of organizations, including Intel, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, several universities and government agencies, the European Commission, and lots more, have announced the second Data Privacy Day.
On January 28, 2009, the United States, Canada, and 27 European countries will celebrate Data Privacy Day together for the second time.
Designed to raise awareness and generate discussion about data privacy practices and rights, Data Privacy Day activities in the United States have included privacy professionals, corporations, government officials, and representatives, academics, and students across the country.
One of the primary goals of Data Privacy Day is to promote privacy awareness and education among teens across the United States. Data Privacy Day also serves the important purpose of furthering international collaboration and cooperation around privacy issues.
I wrote a post called Take Back Your Self that talks about why the concept of a digital self, or identity, is important to protect. I strongly support the passage of a comprehensive data privacy law, as described in Bruce Schneier’s article. But before we can get a draft for a new law going, we need to encourage a better understanding of what digital identity is all about, and why it matters to protect it.
Take a look at some of the resources available on this page to see if there is anything you can share. I’ll be blogging more as we get closer to Data Privacy Day 2009.
On my Identities Overview page, I talk about the different forms of identities that we have. One of those forms is a digital you: the email and online accounts that you have, the mailing lists and databases that you’re part of. In reality, much of this identity reaches into our other identity forms, such as our economic profile and our citizenship.
Renowned security expert Bruce Schneier wrote an essay last May 15, 2008, called Our Data, Ourselves. In it he pointed out that:
Who controls our data controls our lives.
It’s true. Whoever controls our data can decide whether we can get a bank loan, on an airplane or into a country. Or what sort of discount we get from a merchant, or even how we’re treated by customer support. A potential employer can, illegally in the U.S., examine our medical data and decide whether or not to offer us a job. The police can mine our data and decide whether or not we’re a terrorist risk. If a criminal can get hold of enough of our data, he can open credit cards in our names, siphon money out of our investment accounts, even sell our property. Identity theft is the ultimate proof that control of our data means control of our life.
We need to take back our data.
Our data is a part of us. It’s intimate and personal, and we have basic rights to it. It should be protected from unwanted touch.
Schneier calls for the passage of a comprehensive data privacy law with real penalties for violations. I’m all for this, and given our new administration’s commitment to expanding broadband in America, it’s time to start talking about this now.
Coaching Moment: Recently many people on Twitter were stung by a series of “click here” phishing attempts to take over their accounts. One third-party company collected many twitter usernames and passwords while offering a momentarily helpful service, but then turned around and sold his database for a reported $1200. On a higher but related level, financial identity theft is (still) on the rise.
I hope you have not been a victim. Chances are increasing that you will be. What concerns you the most about losing your privacy or control over your digital destiny? I’d love to know.
The greasiest leverage you can create for yourself is the pain that comes from inside, not outside. Knowing that you have failed to live up to your own standards for your life is the ultimate pain. If we fail to act in accordance with our own view of ourselves, if our behaviors are inconsistent with our standards – with the identity we hold for ourselves – then the chasm between our actions and who we are drives us to make a change. One of the strongest forces in the human personality is the drive to preserve the integrity of our own identity. — (unknown)
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