Ephemeral data only lasts a short time after which it is deleted. Nowadays, where data lasts forever, ephemeral data may improve privacy, but is it the solution we have been hoping for?
It is the Christmas season and there are some great parties around. At one party, you find yourself a little too into the Christmas spirits and send some intimate text messages to your ex-girlfriend, ex-boyfriend, or worst, your boss. Pretty soon it’s all over, the inter-webs and you can’t take it back!
One of the features that the Internet has given us is persistent data; data placed on the Internet can be there forever. This persistence has been useful and often nostalgic – I have found some of my friends’ websites that they hosted with Angelfire way back in the early 90’s still online. It has also allowed us to gather evidence on illegal activity to successfully prosecute criminals.
The dark side of this persistent data is the drunken texts, Facebook posts and incorrectly sent emails that we cannot remove no matter how we try. This may not apply to you, but for many, it has become a horror story that does not go away. The unintended consequences, along with low self-esteem, have been broken relationships and lost jobs.
It is on this basis that several services have been born with the ability to send ephemeral data, that is, data that will only last a short time after which it self-destructs (a la Mission: Impossible). These services include Snapchat, Gryphn, and Wickr.
However, even these ephemeral services cannot guarantee that data can disappear; and promising such gives an illusion of privacy. For example, you may still take a screenshot of an image with some of the apps (the Gryphn app does not allow this). You can even take a picture of your phone screen with another phone or camera to bypass those mechanisms. It certainly does not stop someone else from taking a photo of you doing something stupid and tweeting it.
Ephemerality is not something new, as you generally have that expectation with a telephone call – that a conversation is between you and the other party, and is not being recorded (NSA revelations aside). What these services are allowing is a return to a state where the conversations between two people stay only within that moment, and between the two.
I’m not sure about the popularity of Gryphn and Wickr (or as to why they left out vowels from their names), but I do know that Snapchat has gained in popularity. The presence, and more so, the success of these services will be an indication of whether Internet users, including businesses, really value their privacy.
However, these services are a plaster for a sore, but are no panacea for privacy. Instead, what we may need is the creation and establishing of a set of social norms as to the sharing of data such that there is an implicit trust – like you trust that your phone conversation is not being recorded.
The younger generation is a sharing culture, and until that culture changes, you should always assume that you have no privacy. These ephemeral services may provide some level of improved privacy, but not enough for me to send that naughty picture to my wife (no matter how much I trust her)…
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, and have a very happy and prosperous New Year!
Image credits: digital democracy (flickr)
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