climate and comms

With over two billon Internet users and five billon mobile phone users these global networks bring people ever closer together. These technologies which include broadband (terrestrial) and 3G (wireless) allow for more and more data to be carried. We have entered the next Tech Cycle which is called the Mobile Internet. It was preceded by four tech cycles starting in the 1960’s with the Mainframe cycle. Approximately every decade thereafter we have had a new cycle; Mini-computers - 70’s; PC’s - 80’s and desktop Internet - 90’s. The Mobile Internet cycle triggered by the launch of the iPhone will see mobile internet access overtake fixed access by 2014. This will be driven by smart phone take up and 3G/4G rollout. We are already at the critical point of over 1bn 3G users. Other drivers are video ( YouTube); Social networking (Facebook) and VOIP. Much of this take up is occurring in emerging markets; there are 5 babies born every second - but there are 30 new mobile ph...

If you found my previous post somewhat disconcerting then have a look at this link which is the UK Information Commissioners Guide to the new legislation. " The code explains how the Data Protection Act applies to the collection and use of personal data online. It also provides good practice advice for organisations that do business online and are therefore subject to the DPA. " http://www.ico.gov.uk/ebook/ebook.htm and if you want more in depth information about the legislation itself then have a look at this video from Stewart Room. It makes it somewhat more accessible.

So how do you value your privacy in the Facebook age ? Does it matter to you that the calls you make, the emails you send, your credit card transactions, the Internet sites you visit, the images of you travelling to work, your social networking posts are now stored at data centres in the Cloud and retrievable by myriad marketers, Government agencies and companies ? None of whom you ever entrusted with your information in the first place. Your digital footprint is a permanent record of your every move. Data is the pollution of the Information age. Everything we do generates data, and a secondary spin-off of Moores law is that every year it gets cheaper to store and process this data. So rather than sort through our e-mails and delete the ones we don’t need – we just keep them all – it is easier and cheaper to do so. The same thing happens with all of our data now. Most of ‘your’ data actually belongs to someone else. All of your G-mails, everything you ...