Privacy is an inherent human right … Come Hear From Bruce Schneier

Privacy is an Inherent Human Right … Come Hear From Bruce Schneier

Never in the history of human kind have we advanced so fast. In just 40 years we have built a new era, and have said goodbye to the industry age. But will our future be an amazing world of opportunity where every citizen has the same opportunity as any other, or will we end up in a 1984 Big Brother world? At the core of this is the debate around privacy. Bruce Schneier sees this as a core element in building our digitally focused societies:

“Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect. It is about choice, and having the power to control how you present yourself to the world.”

and:

“Google knows more about what I’m thinking of than I do, because Google remembers all of it perfectly and forever.”

and for our new digital world:

“One hundred years ago, everyone could have personal privacy. You and your friend could walk into an empty field, look around to see that no one else was nearby, and have a level of privacy that has forever been lost.”

In my career, there was a time before I read Secrets & Lies … and there was the time after I had read it. It completed changed my focused. In fact, no other author (apart from George Orwell) has had an effect on my thoughts on future world:

Bruce showed me a vision of the most trusted world. He made public key encryption interesting, and I could immediately see how cryptography could be used to rebuild our flawed digital world. I know teach and research cryptography, and I love the subject. I thank Bruce from taking me away from network switching and routers, and showed me the beauty of a subject where you learn every single day.

So, we are so lucky to have Bruce Schneier in Edinburgh on 19 June 2019 and presenting at Edinburgh Napier University. So, come and be inspired, and register here:

It is all part of our collaborations with Blockpass ID and Satisnet, and we will here him talk in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and in an amazing lecture space:

And if you are here to visit Edinburgh, why not hang-on, and, on the same day, hear from Andreas M. Antonopoulos: