With these famous words president Obama justified the NSA Spy-on-Americans program. Technically he is correct and while the government focus is mostly on the 100% security - we are more concerned with the 100% loss of privacy, which seems to be the direction we are headed ...
As a society we are at the point where improvements in computing and communications technologies have torn down a lot of the 'walls' around us. This has resulted in major improvements in effectiveness, and new opportunities like the boom in Mobile or the proliferation of cloud services. The flip side is that with the walls torn down - we find ourselves feeling exposed, vulnerable and more and more lacking privacy. We also find this happening all too quickly and it is hard for many to deal with the ramifications from relatively simple decisions like buying a smart-phone. All of a sudden things that we never thought about before - like our location for instance - are no longer 'ours'. The telcos know it, the government knows it, and a bunch of businesses increasingly want to know it too - so that they can better sell us their stuff. And if we dig around we discover it is all perfectly legal (or at least most of it is).
So what is a one to do? Should we fight it, resist the inevitable, go back in time and refuse the gifts that seem to come from the future? Or should we 'let it slide' and see what happens and may be the next generation will figure it out? What is the silver lining here?
One answer to this last question offers an opportunistic approach to this new reality. If so many know our location than we should be able to access and benefit from this data too. Location based services can offer quite a few advantages. From just-in time traffic information, driving directions, or coupons, which pop-up just when you are near the store - to personalized services like notifications when our loved ones reach certain destinations, or are diverted from a preselected route.
Based on this new philosophy Pingwyn ventures to put people on the map and while at it - enables them to connect with each other, display a public profile, publish and share content. So is there a benefit for us from knowing who is around us? The future will tell. In certain situations one's networking could be greatly enhanced if one had access to the smartphones of the people around them - a direct communication line to the right individuals. Who wouldn't want that? Or businesses might find it quite beneficial to have a BYOD people management system, which tells them where everybody is. Pingwyn offers this solution and opens more opportunities.
As for the 100% loss of privacy - there is always the "Hide" button that will take you off the map ... at least in this app.
