[novaRom]

When someone asks me about what is the most important challenge of this century, I reply: PRIVACY. The way it goes right now shows us very clear sign there will be no privacy anymore. Anything you say or watch is preserved and can be used one day against you. My apologies to all future politicians. It is serious. Porn habits? No problem. Drunk jokes? Will reflect. The way to solve this conundrum is a change of social norms, but it's a long way.

[jerf]

I don't think porn habits or old photos are the primary problem. The primary privacy problem of the 21st century is a powerful group of people, be it government, Big $X, or even just a mob discovering you have Wrong Beliefs, even if you didn't put those beliefs out expecting them to go public, or even if they were expressed in your own home.

Compared to the budding nightmare I see coming from that direction, merely losing your nudes, while a more acute problem, will have nothing on the chronic changes that's going to bring.

[Drdrdrq]

This. Privacy is not about embarrasment. It's about power.

I don't care (that much) about my privacy, I care about everyone's privacy.

[ndnxhs]

Privacy is very important but its just a drop in the ocean compared to environmental disaster. Google tracking you browse the internet seems unimportant compared extinction.

[tspike]

Advertising is fueling that extinction; why else would we consume so much, in such a wasteful way?

[schwurb]

This is where these two issues beautifully tie together: Saving the environment is important - consuming less is a way to do say - with less paying consumers, adds become less valuable - less incentive to violate privacy.

[Nextgrid]

This raises a question, how much does the cancer that is advertising & analytics consumes in terms of electricity and engineering time that could've been put to better use?

[ndnxhs]

Computers use next to nothing in total. Almost all energy is used on heating/cooling, transport and farming.

[Nextgrid]

It still means we're wasting energy cooling computers that are used for advertising & stalking. Those computers can be put to better use instead.

[ndnxhs]

The bigger problem is advertising drives needless and wasteful consumption.

[savanaly]

It certainly accompanies it (can you imagine a world where there was needless and wasteful consumption, but no one bothered to advertise?). I wouldn't be so sure about causation.

[wavepruner]

There's a show on Netflix called 'Easy' that has an episode about how the solution to this is changing cultural norms. Specifically, the recognition that we all make these mistakes and will inevitably start forgiving each other. Season 1 Episode 5. Great episode.

But yea, it's going to take a long time. And it's going to be a crazy ride.