Father of the internet Vint Cerf: ‘Privacy may be an anomaly’

21 Nov 2013

Pictured: Google evangelist Vint Cerf

One of the founding fathers of the internet and Google evangelist Vint Cerf has described the thorny subject of privacy and our sense of entitlement to it as “an anomaly”, a creation of the industrial age.

Addressing a US Federal Trade Commission workshop on the internet of things Cerf said it will be increasingly difficult for us to achieve privacy in the present age.

“Privacy may be an anomaly,” according to tweets captured by veteran media writer Katy Bachman.

“Our social behaviour is quite damaging to privacy. Technology has outraced our social intellect.”

Cerf was explaining that privacy is a new development that arose out of the industrial age that led to urban concentrations and a sense of anonymity.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

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