The Death of Privacy [Op-ed]
Early in the 21st century, I wrote about the use of email in the financial industry. I refreshened the article a few years back and many of the things I mentioned back then - like Twitter, social media are now dominating the modern cultural landscape. In the business world however, email still rules the land but there are some cautions about the use of electronic communications at home or in the workplace.
Have you noticed that many of your colleagues at work unconsciously grab for their cell phones to make a local, personal call? Why would you not use the corporate digital PBX telephone system with static free, crystal clear digital clarity? Its right on your desk just inches away. Why use a device with voice quality reminiscent of a cheap walkie-talkie?
Good question you may ask. It could be the pleasant recorded voice reminding you anytime you place a call to a business. "Your call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes..." What it really means is subject to interpretation but the general idea is that your call will be recorded for whatever reason [insert favorite government conspiracy theory here].
For those of us recalling the Vietnam and Watergate era, the boomer demographic is generally suspicious of governments or businesses presumably acting in their best interests. The boomers are perplexed by the younger "connected” generation that has no similar qualms about privacy. In this share everything to everybody world, privacy was the first thing to go.
Repeat the following mantra: "everything is monitored and archived forever..."
Hold that thought.
There are geo-locators so your friends know exactly where you are located at any given second. Ad bots that customize ads based on your data-mined viewing habits and follow you eerily from web site to web site.
Needless to say, just about everyone knows by now that your company likely monitors and logs every web site you visit on your workstation throughout the day.
How about email privacy?
Someone related the following email story to me. Intercepting an employee’s email is generally not all that common. In this case, this person received a joke email and wanted to forward it on to someone outside of his organization. He claimed that the joke email was innocuous and not demeaning in any way. It was just funny he said.
His corporate IT Department did not agree, intercepted the email, bounced it back and asked the sender if this particular email should really be sent. The astonished and embarrassed employee (an executive, no less) had no idea that his emails were being monitored.
Should he have called the Human Rights Office or Privacy Commissioner to complain? Probably not. The terms of use for the majority of large corporate email systems are mostly the same. Email, instant messaging or the use of any of the computing systems are for corporate use only and are the property of the corporation. The fine print almost always refers to the use of these systems for personal use (not allowed). So next time your mom emails you at work - it might not be wise to reply back and tell her that you (the head of your company's R & D Department) and your team are thinking about jumping ship to a competitor.
The moral of the story is that privacy is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. Whether we are being monitored by governments, business or the firms we work for, privacy issues are something we generally don't think much about. However an increasing number of headlines on the topic are shedding light on the issues of privacy and electronic surveillance on our modern, 21st century connected lives.
For those of us that think that electronic privacy is not really a big deal, see links below.
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/05/70908
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/94812--libor-s-hidden-lesson-instant-messages-are-deadly
Related article:
Emailing your adviser? http://www.wealthadviser.ca/index.php/regulatory/55-technology-and-investing
References:
Canadian privacy laws: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_privacy_law
What Canadians are thinking about retirement.
Check out Fidelity's Canada survey results below:
http://www.fidelity.ca/cs/Satellite/doc/reitrementsurvey2012.pdf
The Canadians are coming! - Americans protest Canadian invasion
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/08/12/bc-bellingham-costco-canadians.html
Easier border crossings for Canadian air travellers?
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/14/nexus-clears-the-way-for-airport-passengers
Trading the G10
Secondary currency markets making gains:
More on the bond bubble - The Bond Market is The Next Catastrophe
Peter Schiff - 08-06-12 : "I think the glory days are over for the Bond market ,may be they are not over today , I have been saying this for a while just like I was warning earlier about the housing bubble , I think more investors who have sought out bonds as an alternative to weak performance in stocks , I think that's where the next catastrophe is going to be as far as catastrophic losses and not just in treasury as I think any long term debt instrument denominated in dollars is going to go down but particularly sovereign credit people perceive it as being safe , the way I look at it there is only two alternatives for bond holders , either they lose due to default or they lose due to inflation and the default risk even includes treasury's..."
Video interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYY7Q1wnpgA&feature=player_embedded
[Notes & Source: Peter Schiff is CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. Peter is a controversial (sometimes known as Dr. Doom for his bearish views) but popular figure in the media and is said to have correctly predicted the [U.S.] housing crash and subsequent Financial Crisis of 2008.]
From the "oops file" - computer loses hundreds of millions of dollars due to "glitch"
A tip of the hat to Barry Rietzhold at his "Big Picture" blog for this interesting post. Note his droll reference to government bailouts. Barry should know as he is the author of "Bailout Nation". http://bailoutnation.net/
"...about that Knight Capital snafu. They tried to bring a new computer trading technology online, they failed (miserably) to adequately test it and/or anticipate a variety of potential errors. It cost them nearly half a billion dollars. Their stock (KCG) plummeted 74%. The firm required a lifeline from outside investors, and numerous people were — or will be — sacked.
"A company, as happens quite often, screwed up royally. They were not bailed out by taxpayers, their losses were not externalized to third parties. The people responsible for the errors were not given a free pass, the global economy was not driven to collapse. No laws were broken. No new regulations were required to respond to this. There will not be Congressional hearings on this issue. All told, exactly what [was] supposed to happen happened."
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/08/upside-of-wall-st-failures/
