Privacy and the Two Realities of the Shift Age

PrivacyIt is the rare speech QampampA session that I am not asked about privacy and the future of privacy The fast answer is that there is no longer any privacy Privacy as our grandparents knew it is gone The definition of privacy is mutable it is constantly being redefined through time What was considered privacy 100 years ago is practically nonexistent now What was considered privacy even 10 years ago is no longer existentA century ago when the landline telephone business was starting to penetrate the marketplace in America the most cited reason to not getting one was invasion of privacy Having a device from outside the home come into my home That is an invasion of my privacy as a citizen How quaint that sounds today That is the point what our grand parents or great grand parents though was an invasion of privacy is entirely different that our view todayGenerally speaking we as consumers have always allowed convenience to trump almost everything else This is certainly true relative to our use of technology GPS on our phones means we can use all sorts of great apps but it means that other people know exactly where we are and when we are there So we have often yielded privacy for personal convenience which makes some of our complaints about privacy a bit hypocritical What is that old phrase about cakeIn 2006 before the iPhone and all the handheld computing that has followed it I wrote a column titled quot Technology Advances Privacy Declinesquot That is basically the bottom line on privacy in the Shift Age and the 21st century Smart phones tablets browsers video surveillance cameras everywhere ATM machines and all form of digital records and communications that we so embrace basically are eliminating privacy as it has been defined for centuriesTwo Realities of the Shift Ageamp160One of the defining characteristics of the Shift Age is the fact that we all now have two realities that we have to manage two realities that we live in the physical reality and the screen reality For the last seven years I have been framing this concept as one of the ways we must look at our lives and what is going on around us It was not until the cell phone ubiquity of the last few years amp8211 57 billion cell phone users and 71 billion humans that the screen reality has become as quotrealquot to us as our physical reality What happens in our screen realities can be as compelling as what happens in our physical reality We sit walk work and unfortunately drive in a physical reality always connected to our screen reality We have all seen people walking down the street largely oblivious to their physical reality as they are absorbed in their screen realityThe physical reality is based upon atoms and the screen reality is based upon digits That is why the screen reality is morphing much more quickly than the physical reality The cutting edge of human evolution is now on the screen reality What is happening there moves to the physical realityNow that we are years into the Shift Age and cell phone ubiquity and everfaster internet connections we are seeing how the screen reality is changing physical reality The collapse of Borders and the closings of numerous big box stores across America can largely be attributed to Amazon and other online retailers The business models the language the metaphors of the screen reality are affecting and changing the physical reality That will continuePRISMPRISM exists in and because of the screen reality PRISM takes advantage of our need for convenience reliance on and obsession with this digital reality As technology increases privacy declines That is why those who want privacy and at least some independence from surveillance move quotoff the gridquot We will take a look at the larger issues of government and citizen privacy in a democracy in the next column as they need to be aired and understood There are reasons to be irate but not surprisedIf you fully utilize the dynamic efficiencies and convenience of your screen reality if you choose to share your personal information on it you are leaving the world of privacyDavid Houle is a futurist strategist and speaker He has always been slightly ahead of the curve Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment Most recently David is a featured contributor to Oprahcom Check is out here wwwoprahcomdavidhoule David can be contacted at DavidDavidHoulecomRead all Davidamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Evolution ShiftCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentariesImage courtesy of cooldesignFreeDigitalPhotosnet

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Privacy and the Two Realities of the Shift Age

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