What Kim Kardashian Won't Tell You About Personal Privacy And Data Insecurity

We are truly living in a transparent society, as the infamous book by David Brin is entitled. In fact, we are so far gone, it seems we won't be able to ever know what private information could possibly mean. 

Imagine a time when you could make phone calls without worrying they'll be hacked into by a gargantuan spy agency ad hoc and for no particular reason other than to amass the world's largest library of data? 

Wait--maybe you can't imagine that... Or, perhaps you don't think about it anymore. But you should. 

Wired Magazine released a post this week laying out only a surface-scratch of mega-hacker jobs both successful and not. Here are a few...

1. Dig Kim Kardashian? Well, given an outdated WordPress plug-in, thousands of visitors were susceptible to a spyware attack. For those who don't visit her site or haven't lately, as Wired sardonically notes, there are benefits to having good taste.

2. NSA hacking the App stores of Samsung and Google: And it's not just the American government, but also, according to Edward Snowden's recently leaked documents, the Canadian government was in on it as well. The siege was planned during Australian and Canadian 'workshops' on how to enhance surveillance of mobile devices. In this case, it was Samsung and Google App stores that were targeted. What does that say about Apple?

3. General concern for privacy: According to a poll, 65% of Americans surveyed believe there aren't enough government controls on privacy of information. For many who blame Snowden and other whistle blowers, the latter's case is a compelling one: If governments are rendering out private lives more transparent, there must be checks and balances to make our government bodies more transparent--I mean we're the one's who have voted them it, right?

We are living in the transparent society, and the more we understand this, the more careful we will be in giving out our information. The problem is the benefits far outweigh the risks--at least for most people. We are willing to trade off our privacy for convenience and connectivity. But where is the bottom of this abyss? How far will it all go? That's a question few are answering, and many, at least for now, are choosing to ignore.