Edward Snowden has revealed many things to the world over the past six months, and one of those things, according to columnist Ben van der Burg of BNR Nieuwsradio, is that even the Dalai Lama can be wrong about human nature.
For BNR Nieuwsradio, Ben van der Burg of writes in part:
That the sharing economy is a myth is evidenced by Facebook, Twitter, or Google. They encourage you to share your holiday photos, status updates, or views with the world. By promoting transparency, they harvest data from their users and thus make money. That seems like a nice exchange. We give our data, and in return, we receive satisfaction, friends and coolness. We hand over our privacy. The popular platforms are fervent advocates of transparency. More transparency means more data, and that means more business.
Over the last six months, thanks to Edward Snowden, we have become aware that transparency can have harmful effects. Governments and companies know everything about us. Our privacy is out in the open. The Internet faithful who once proclaimed the myth of transparency, generosity and sharing, now explain that our privacy is under pressure, and that we must take care with what we share and do on the Net. Because in the end, you will get that job interview, and you don’t want photos of that out-of-hand party to emerge. Ultimately, you don’t want American border agents to refuse you entry because you wrote a paper on the Taliban. Simply put, that may very well now occur.
What next? The Dalai Lama once said, “A lack of transparency results in suspicion and a deep sense of insecurity.” That’s wrong (unfortunately). Snowden has shown that the United States abuses the availability of online data, and it is precisely that which leads to suspicion of America. Obama will therefore begin a charm offensive or just talk of the need for national security. The Dalai Lama’s comments would make a beautiful inscription on souvenir porcelain, but for now have little to do with reality.
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