The German philosopher, Hegel, wrote (and I’m paraphrasing here) that history is merely a never-ending series of reactions to reactions. Once a thing is done, there is an inevitable reaction to it and then a reaction to that and so on.
Technology works the same way in that innovations are often countered and re-countered by subsequent innovations. The technology that allowed for connectivity via social media spawned an outcry about privacy that has enabled new technologies to come about, and there will no doubt be a reaction against this development.
So it’s only natural that, in an era where there is so much concern about the ability for governments and corporations to gather so much data on our whereabouts and habits, technologies would be developed that could (in theory) defeat these privacy-stealing abilities.
A little over a year ago, we wrote about how the Chinese government is consolidating its surveillance technology to give its people a “citizen score”. Other governments may already be following suit. Now, there may be a high-tech reaction: the privacy ring, which is basically a connected switch that you wear on your finger.
For those times when you are ok with your data being collected (from your face, your location, etc.), you switch the ring on. When you want to stay anonymous to the data-collecting world, you switch it off. Yes, the ring has an actual switch on it, and it has been described as an “Incognito Mode for real life”.
This privacy ring is still only in concept mode, and it’s not clear if and when it will go to market, but the technology for it to come into being already exists in the form of Bluetooth and other low-power wireless protocols. Long story short: the privacy ring would send signals, like mini digital contracts, to points of access that are already gathering data on you. It would clarify whether certain data about to be collected on you was collectible and for what purpose.
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For those traffic lights in Hong Kong that are gathering data on your movements or for that dating app that sends your partner a notice that you’ve spent 22 minutes in the shower Friday night getting ready to go out, you may be able to effectively block them when you want.
So, should you breathe easy that, in the not-too-distant-future, we will be able to chose when we want to be tracked? Of course not! Our friend, Hegel, has figured out that the privacy ring technology will probably only last as long as it takes to build the necessary technological reaction to it.
You, of course, now may be wondering now if there will ever be a technology developed that can defeat RMail’s top-rated email message level encryption (via AES 256-bit encrypted PDF) that offers full outbox-to-inbox protection and can be configured endlessly.
The short answer is ‘not anytime soon’, as we are constantly innovating so that we can always be the safest, most secure and affordable email solution for you. And remember, RMail is easy enough to use that you’ll want to use it often (watch video to see how easy).
Will I be one of the first to get a new privacy ring? Let’s just say I’m focused for now on just getting a COVID vaccine.
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