If you freaks haven't caught wind of it yet, I highly recommend you go peep this article dropped by Stuart Thompson and Charlie Warzel in the Opinion section of the New York Times this morning. The two journalists have gotten their hands on a treasure trove of location data provided to them by sources within a location data collection company that sells data to marketers and other third parties.

We have been covering the build out of our digital panopticon for some time in this rag and I did not think anything could shock me anymore, but the details that have been laid bare by Stuart and Charlie this morning send shivers down my spine. We may be too far gone at this point, freaks. The allure of capturing and selling your data is simply too strong and profitable. And the devices that capture and transmit this data to the private companies are technological heroin that the world is becoming increasingly addicted to. I find it very hard to believe we fix this problem unless we rearchitect the system from scratch. The first iteration of the Internet may not be good enough if we want to ensure liberty and privacy in the Digital Age.

The way data is currently stored and transmitted throughout the world is extremely insecure. We need to build systems that give users control of their data. We need to create a social movement towards personal data storage. In my opinion, these systems can only be built on top of the tech created by cypherpunks and the Crypto Anarchy movement. Tim May's email signature read:

Strong encryption technology is here and very easy to access for the common man. We have a very promising distributed digital money with bitcoin. As we build out these systems, we need to start attacking the rest of Tim's list. Anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, distributed reputation systems, and black markets run on self hosted computers. I fear the incumbent system will never serve our needs without taking away our freedom. We must continue to build a truly secure and private system in parallel if we have any hopes for our progeny living as free men.

Engage.

Final thought...

I prefer 7 degree weather to 36 degree weather. (Fahrenheit)