The Power of Privacy

Sony. Target. Home Depot. And now Ashley Madison.

The names change, but the headlines stay the same: “X Hacked,  Thousands Affected.” And the narrative afterward has become familiar:  millions in revenue lost, personal information exposed, ‘doomsday’  scenarios thrown around and employees, partners and customers  frantically trying to figure out if and how they’re affected.

We’ve heard these stories so many times, with such increasing  frequency, that it’s begun to feel inevitable. Whether you’re an  enterprise or an individual, you’ve likely started to think that it’s  only a matter of time before your private data is exposed to the eyes of the entire globe.

However, that isn’t the case. Privacy is an approach as well as an outcome, and there are solutions:

Better awareness of the problems.

Better tools to combat them.

Better ways to take real action.

That’s why today we’re launching a series  investigating the current state of global privacy. Over the coming  weeks, editors, reporters, security experts and thought leaders from The Guardian and Silent Circle will be contributing articles and videos examining different aspects of privacy in the modern world.

The goal of this project is to turn the conversation around privacy  from one of fear to one of positivity. To explore what privacy makes  possible for people, and for enterprise businesses in particular. To  look at where we are now, how we got here, where we’re going next, and  how we can protect ourselves.

In today’s mobile-first world, where we’re all connected, we each have a responsibility to take ownership of our communications and our data – and choose carefully how to use them. Every day we willingly hand over our data in exchange for apps, for services, for savings, and for one more turn in the latest game on our phones. We communicate freely, but we don’t  know who might be listening or where our conversations are stored. We  don’t need to cease all of these behaviors, but we do need to make sure we’re aware of what we’re handing over and how it will be used.

These are complex, often conflicted issues. Oversimplified  generalizations will not advance awareness of the problems, nor will  they lead to long term answers. That’s why we want to take a broader,  deeper look at the topic. That’s why we want this to feel like a  conversation instead of a lecture. We want people to walk away better  informed and, more importantly, better equipped to take control of their privacy.

With this series we hope to empower individuals and enterprises to  make those decisions safely and with confidence. New content will be  posted on this hub every few days, and you can follow @Silent Circle on Twitter for updates. We hope that, in the coming weeks, you’ll add your voice to the conversation.