My Digital FootPrint

Ask a group of friends to define any of the following words:- private, privacy, trust, sharing, personal data, data, rights or context and whilst you may start the evening as friends; you may well end the evening questioning ideologies.  Privacy, Identity and personal data have become the new politics, religion and sex conversation topics that we should not discuss. But why? My personal view is that, just like politics, religion and sex, we all start from different points (knowledge and mood today), with varying expectations (outcomes) and personal experiences (crosses to bare).  This opinion piece is about the different starting points and not expectations or personal experience; as we get to read about expectations from daily FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) articles that form fabulous NEWS headlines, and personal experiences as well, they’re personal. This opinion is not trying to convert or sway anyone from their trusted viewpoint; the purpose is to present a frame...

Once you have watched the video, read the 100+ comments on TED http://www.ted.com/talks/rob_reid_the_8_billion_ipod.html Personally, I took the simple message get the numbers and facts related to your message correct or it will undermine the principal

I have been thinking for a while about a model that describes the interdependencies between public, private, identity, reputation and privacy (laws).  This is mostly driven by the need to try and find an approach to define different types of “identity” based on characteristics that have some degree of stability and repeatability. The first “public” version of this model is represented in hand drawing below, and I would love feedback, input and criticism.   The vertical axis represents the perceptions of how people can be perceived by everyone else; this provides a range from a private citizen (general public) to a public figure (politician). The horizontal axis represents the how we conduct ourselves from being a private self (protected) to being public (15 seconds of fame) The quadrants are defined by the extremes of the axis definitions as follows: Obscurity - a private citizen who wants to remain private. An example at an extreme is a hermit, but th...

If I stated, “the weather’s changeable” you’d probably accept it without challenge, as every day the weather changes. If I asked you to find two snow flakes exactly the same, you would probably agree that’s an impossible challenge. However, if I told you that ScreenAgers know more about digital, media and social and than you (or me) I expect you would, in the politest way possible, move on and find something wholly more agreeable to your views. We have to learn to overcome our inbuilt and significant preference for news that plays to our fears ( TED talk ) and views that confer with our own views and opinions ( Obliquity ); we have to think outside of our comfort zone. ScreenAgers don’t have our old models to hang onto; it is worth seeing where they are going, so we can tag along. Yes, there are new rules for engaging in a digital world that build on the social ones handed down from previous generations ( 33 new digital rules ); but generally the...

These are two clips from Seinfeld : about George’s worlds that he keeps separate – colliding, because of someone else’s actions.  The episode is the one in which George’s two worlds collide. It’s the one where “Relationship George” and “Independent George” battle it out for supremacy. The conflict of the episode is that George knows what will happen when his two worlds collide: “Relationship George will kill Independent George”. In George’s mind, there is a clear separation between his love life and his life among friends.  The analogy is to the current struggle we’re having between our “digital life” and our “real life”. Personally, the dichotomy of a “digital life” being somehow different from “real life” is already false…..other than it is probably easier to lie and cheat in the real world. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3afZip4BTRc]...

source : http://blog.opendigital.org/2012/03/identonomics-part-3-clarity-in-privacy.html This is a interesting set of posts from OpenDigital on Identity.  It leaves open still for me an important question.... Do we want to give users CONTROL over their data or do we want to give users CONTROLS over their data.....I struggle to see how icons will ever help as the onus comes to the user and sharing becomes complex and difficult, and whilst you may well do the right thing there is no control over your neighbour who may not do the right thing with your data.

Source:  http://blog.zonealarm.com/2011/12/teens-cruel-world-of-social-networking.html

This post picks up on Alan Patrick's ( link ) and Nic Brisbourne's (link ) posts on an original  GigaOm article  about Big Data case studies.  I think about data (big or small) with the business model that has a collector of data, storage of data, data analysis and controller of the feedback loop (did the analysis get it right) and not about its structure of how to scale it.   When I look at the models presented by GigaOm and consider Alan's matrix, I think about the value, volume in each of the four elements of the model.  Value I think still lies not with he who collects or stores data ( big commodity players) but with the analysis engines and those who control the digital feedback look.  This to me is why the writing in on the wall for Banks and Telco's  as they are only enablers and commodity players (needed but not valued) and are not the participants and value adders who will get the multiple on value.  I am not sure the graphs are right, b...

source : http://www.unboundid.com/blog/2012/02/01/privacy-of-personal-identity-data-its-a-simple-equation/ Andy Land, Vice President of Marketing from unBoundID makes a case in the blog for Identity as a product.  I question the position that links trust and knowledge to Loyalty.  Loyalty is a about distorting economics.    If loyalty is just about increasing margin and contribution from the user (customer) then the only person who benefits is the company.... As we move to the potential that users can define their own terms and provide an intention that others can bid for, where is loyalty.  However Identity still exists.  

  With 27 countries in the European Union there are, unsurprisingly, 27 different interpretations of Europe's new e-privacy rules. The layer of complication is added as the e-privacy law has been issued as a directive, a form of legislation that lets every E.U. country fashion its own domestic law, as long as they honour the spirit of the directive.  The result is that Europe's internet privacy regulations are a quagmire, aggravated by the E.U. taking a hard line with cookies by requiring opt-in consent for every website, making it difficult to put the new rules into practice. The E.U. directive on online privacy was supposed to become law in each country by May 2011, but in March 2012 that's only happened in 11 of the 27 countries. Some of the biggest, like Germany, Spain, and Italy, are still missing. (Luxembourg, however, is in!) The U.K. and France have taken a pragmatic approach, interpreting consent if consumers don't opt out, even if that isn't exactly what ...

mobile internet 3.0.pdf Download this file

Source http://www.telco2.net/blog/2012/02/strategy_20_facebooks_strategy.html Personally I feel the Telco's have got it wrong.  They (telco's) are enablers outside of the digital market - they enable it to happen but are not participants.   They are just like the Banks in a digital world.  You need them (today) but the are not participants.  Telco's like banks are regulated and have to a degree a protected status for competition around the world.  It will not be long before it will be cheaper to attack the legislation/ regulation than try to take more cost out from a high volume low margin declining business.  When this happens the battle stats.  The scenarios become set but who starts the attacks.  If Google, Amazon. Paypal, Ebay, Microsoft, Apple lead the world will change.  If Telco's start on telco regulation there will be a long slow battle, telco on banking - could be fun.  Banks will not start anything as they stil...

source : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/facebook-is-using-you.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all The NYT ran a Sunday article ( a while ago)  on how you are the product of Facebook as the customer is the advertiser.  Whilst this is not new, it is good to see it being aired in public.  However what the article missed is that the search is on for the right signal that allows me to know what you intend to do - as this is perceived to have the greatest economic benefit (this weeks thinking) We have moved from knowing what you did and when and using the analysis of that data as a poor predictor; (but has significant economic value c $5bn) to seeing what signals you are giving off that shows me what you intend to do.  Yes we are trying to understand who influences you and who you influence as these are good economic predictors as well; but there is nothing like knowing what you are about to spend real "cash" on.    Thinking fu...

 “Frugal Dad”  offers this infographic  covering various issues of online privacy:

source : http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/in-pursuit-of-a-single-identity-online-and-off/22526 Researchers at the University of Southampton (UK) are undertaking an international effort  to study identity — in particular, how the existence of multiple real-world and digital identities impacts security. The 3 year research study is focused on the notion of a “ super-identity ,” or a single, final ID. After all, we are all each just one person, and sooner or later all those aliases, online or off, roll up to a single “core” entity. To me this you go further is the word Identity is barred/ scrapped/ deleted and we use a better set of more specific words such as: Visual Identification, Physical Identification, Personal data, Persona, Authentication, Login, User ID, Government ID etc and determine the coloration between these and "TRUST"

So I delivered a pitch this week at International Payments Summit 2012, in London.  Part of the pitch was that Value Chains are dead.  I was taken to the side immediately afterwards by a number of bankers who disagreed - so this is my response..... source: http://b logs.hbr.org/cs/2012/02/why_porters_model_no_longer_wo.html Essentially the article says: Most existing big organizations, the 800-pound gorillas, subscribe to Michael Porter's  value chain framework (as we were taught it on our MBA programmes). This model optimizes for efficient delivery of a known thing. Organizationally it means Z follows Y, which follows X. It carries with it one fundamental assumption: that  customers are tangential  to the process. Which is different from where we are today where supply chains have given way to customer "data" eco-systems and there is no customer on the end. Control has been given up. At the end of the old thinking is now who is offering you t...

Influence_Landscape_Beta_v1.pdf Download this file

Cross-Platform Tools 2012 - key insights.pdf Download this file   Cross-Platform Developer Tools 2012 reports on the landscape of 100+ cross-platform developer tools with an analysis of key vendors and the metrics of developer experience. This is a research by VisionMobile, conducted via an online survey of over 2,400 developers, as well as in-depth interviews with key cross-platform tool vendors and developers. The full report is available for free download at www.CrossPlatformTools.com Some of the major insights: -         PhoneGap and Sencha lead in terms of mindshare, as they are currently used by 32% and 30% of cross-platform developers, irrespective of their primary tools -         PhoneGap (23%), Xamarin Mono (22%) and Unity (22%) are the tools most developers plan to adopt, irrespective of their primary tool -         The most important CPT selection crite...

Source Getting Results From Crowds   One of the most important issues in using service marketplaces is choosing between fixed fees and hourly rates.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University published a new report from the Youth and Media project: “Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality” by Urs Gasser, Sandra Cortesi, Momin Malik, & Ashley Lee. Building upon a process- and context-oriented information quality framework, this paper seeks to map and explore what we know about the ways in which young users of age 18 and under search for information online, how they evaluate information, and how their related practices of content creation, levels of new literacies, general digital media usage, and social patterns affect these activities. A review of selected literature at the intersection of digital media, youth, and information quality—primarily works from library and information science, sociology, education, and selected ethnographic studies—reveals patterns in youth’s information-seeking behavior, but also highlights the importance of contextual ...

Source: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/02/13/for-personal-data-use-value-beats-sale-value/ In defence of value to me of my data and not having to sell data to get that value.

PIP_Future_of_Internet_2012_Young_brains_PDF.pdf Download this file This study  released by Pew sheds light on the question: Are actual consequences to the hyperconnected lifestyle that many 21st century millennial Americans live!  There are some major downsides to relying on the Internet as our "external brain," including the desire for instant gratification, and the increased chances of making "quick, shallow choices." But researchers also say we networked young people are nimble, quick-acting multitaskers who will do good in the world.

A Passion for Privacy: Three Chief Privacy Officers Reflect on a Decade of Work Creating a More Trustworthy Computing Ecosystem  http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2012/mar12/03-083CPOs.mspx Interesting slip or question asked within the bounds of  Privacy by Design ... Do you want control or controls of your data. Subtle but meaningful! source: Microsoft video

Social marketing company Argyle Social spoke to 566 online retailers ranging from big brands to niche sites to find out how the social commerce revolution is taking shape. The results indicate that retailers have been somewhat slow on the uptake, with only 17% featuring products on their Facebook page and just 4% enabling check-out functionality. Furthermore, less than a quarter (23%) of those surveyed offered users deals through Twitter, while 29% featured deals on Facebook.

Source Ilona Buchem : http://ibuchem.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/digital-identity/ A useful reminder of someone coming in with new eyes and experiences to this wide and wonderfully contentious topic... A few of his thought-provoking conceptualisations of identity: Social identity is not a fixed possession, but a social process, in which the individual and the social are inextricably related ( Jenkins, 1996 ) Patchwork-identities and identity construction as a dynamic and interactive process of patchworking of different identity components ( Keupp, 1999 ) Changing nature of identity (fluid identity), self-identity including self-reflexivity and creating biographical narratives (project of the self) as an inescapable issue in post-traditional societies ( Giddens, 2002 ) Collective identities as resistance identities, the identity-based social mobilisation in the network society and identities as reflexive achievement in post-traditional societies ( Castells, 2006 ) Identities in ...

source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/hypothesis.php Hypothes.is aims to build nothing less than a  peer review layer for the whole Internet . It's a mind-boggling idea when you let it sink in.  Read the comments at the end, shame there are not more Personally I would content that Identity and Reputation are not the issues to solve (yet) the focus today is on "Authority" and "Trust"

The goal of Spotflux technology is to bridge a connection from anywhere in the world, avoiding any blockages or deep packet inspection, and to prevent traffic shaping or content modification.  Spotflux technology works by encrypting and tunneling a connection between a user and Spotflux infrastructure. The magic sauce involved uses Spotflux proprietary technology that has been developed to avoid deep packet inspection and to avoid blockages based on IP or DNS entries. At the same time Spotflux can protect the privacy of their users by preventing unwanted tracking, and protecting our users from threats such as malware and viruses. Spotflux is live and serving over 100,000 customers around the globe in 120 countries. Spotflux has closed its first funding ($1m) led by New Atlantic Ventures and joined by a group of Angel investors including Paris based Kima Ventures and Steven R. Gerbsman. Founders Dean Mekkawy and Chris Naegelin are technology entrepreneurs who have spent...

The goal of Spotflux technology is to bridge a connection from anywhere in the world, avoiding any blockages or deep packet inspection, and to prevent traffic shaping or content modification.  Spotflux technology works by encrypting and tunneling a connection between a user and Spotflux infrastructure. The magic sauce involved uses Spotflux proprietary technology that has been developed to avoid deep packet inspection and to avoid blockages based on IP or DNS entries. At the same time Spotflux can protect the privacy of their users by preventing unwanted tracking, and protecting our users from threats such as malware and viruses. Spotflux is live and serving over 100,000 customers around the globe in 120 countries. Spotflux has closed its first funding ($1m) led by New Atlantic Ventures and joined by a group of Angel investors including Paris based Kima Ventures and Steven R. Gerbsman. Founders Dean Mekkawy and Chris Naegelin are technology entrepreneurs who have spent...

The goal of Spotflux technology is to bridge a connection from anywhere in the world, avoiding any blockages or deep packet inspection, and to prevent traffic shaping or content modification.  Spotflux technology works by encrypting and tunneling a connection between a user and Spotflux infrastructure. The magic sauce involved uses Spotflux proprietary technology that has been developed to avoid deep packet inspection and to avoid blockages based on IP or DNS entries. At the same time Spotflux can protect the privacy of their users by preventing unwanted tracking, and protecting our users from threats such as malware and viruses. Spotflux is live and serving over 100,000 customers around the globe in 120 countries. Spotflux has closed its first funding ($1m) led by New Atlantic Ventures and joined by a group of Angel investors including Paris based Kima Ventures and Steven R. Gerbsman. Founders Dean Mekkawy and Chris Naegelin are technology entrepreneurs who have spent...

The goal of Spotflux technology is to bridge a connection from anywhere in the world, avoiding any blockages or deep packet inspection, and to prevent traffic shaping or content modification.  Spotflux technology works by encrypting and tunneling a connection between a user and Spotflux infrastructure. The magic sauce involved uses Spotflux proprietary technology that has been developed to avoid deep packet inspection and to avoid blockages based on IP or DNS entries. At the same time Spotflux can protect the privacy of their users by preventing unwanted tracking, and protecting our users from threats such as malware and viruses. Spotflux is live and serving over 100,000 customers around the globe in 120 countries. Spotflux has closed its first funding ($1m) led by New Atlantic Ventures and joined by a group of Angel investors including Paris based Kima Ventures and Steven R. Gerbsman. Founders Dean Mekkawy and Chris Naegelin are technology entrepreneurs who have spent...

The goal of Spotflux technology is to bridge a connection from anywhere in the world, avoiding any blockages or deep packet inspection, and to prevent traffic shaping or content modification.  Spotflux technology works by encrypting and tunneling a connection between a user and Spotflux infrastructure. The magic sauce involved uses Spotflux proprietary technology that has been developed to avoid deep packet inspection and to avoid blockages based on IP or DNS entries. At the same time Spotflux can protect the privacy of their users by preventing unwanted tracking, and protecting our users from threats such as malware and viruses. Spotflux is live and serving over 100,000 customers around the globe in 120 countries. Spotflux has closed its first funding ($1m) led by New Atlantic Ventures and joined by a group of Angel investors including Paris based Kima Ventures and Steven R. Gerbsman. Founders Dean Mekkawy and Chris Naegelin are technology entrepreneurs who have spent...