We’ve all been making some big choices, consciously or not, as advancing technology has transformed the real and virtual worlds. That phone in your pocket, the surveillance camera on the corner: You’ve traded away a bit of anonymity, of autonomy, for the usefulness of one, the protection of the other. Many of these trade-offs were clearly worthwhile. But now the stakes are rising and the choices are growing more fraught. …
Polling suggests that public anxiety about privacy is growing, as data breaches at companies like Facebook and Equifax have revealed how much information we’ve already traded away — and how vulnerable we can find ourselves when it’s exposed. …
It seems like a good moment to pause and consider the choices we’ve already made, and the ones that lie ahead. CONT.
James Bennet, New York Times