Presentation to the Digital Identity & Security Conference, Wellington, New Zealand

1. Online Privacy
A Customer’s Perspective

2. 2
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTKHI5ovyc

3. In the last 7 years
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4. 4
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/kumar641/presentation-to-tp-forum-sep-2007

5. 3 lessons
• Privacy is in the details- how do you deal with
exceptions and false positives?
• Institutionalise privacy protection
• In a high-trust environment, the more you
speak about privacy protection, the more
nervous people get about privacy
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6. But trust is rapidly eroding
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7. And is actually worse in reality
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Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jul/31/nsa-xkeyscore-program-full-presentation

8. Pervasive, ubiquitous surveillance
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Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jul/31/nsa-xkeyscore-program-full-presentation

9. Pervasive, ubiquitous surveillance
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10. Conspiracy theories natural
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Source: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/dictators-guide-internet-how-balkanize-dirty-web-ck-143819
The Dictator’s Guide to the Internet: How to Balkanize the Dirty Web
Ian Apperley in the National Business Review

11. Major online service providers
also under scrutiny
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Source: http://www.metafilter.com/95152/Userdriven-discontent#3256046

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Source: http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2010/06/the_value_of_co_1.shtml

13. Mandatory notifications?
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For major security breaches, a good
idea but...

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1. Anonymity online is a myth

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2. Take sensible steps
Source: http://mashable.com/2013/04/30/facebook-graph-search-privacy-infographic/
But accept people are human and very
poor at risk evaluation
Excellent read: http://www.schneier.com/essay-155.html

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3. Consider if you are willing to pay for
privacy. Professionals and businesses
should consider confidentiality and
legal risks.
Source: http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/11/two-honest-google-employees-our.html

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So, what am I doing?
Source: http://romanticactoftheday.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/your-gold-plated-word.html

18. 1. Talking about the issues
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Source: http://internetganesha.wordpress.com/

19. 2. Becoming a cypherpunk
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“An activist advocating widespread use
of strong cryptography as a route to
social and political change”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypherpunk
Source: http://goldenageofgaia.com/2010/12/cypherpunk-the-origin-of-wikileaks/

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1x 1x
1 million x

21. Customer’s perspective
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Don’t be a low
hanging victim
Send sealed letter,
not postcard

22. Crypto for the masses
• Perceived need
• It has to just work
• No compromise in functionality
• Real security requires end-to-end encryption
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What’s next?
Source: http://my-squidoo-lens.blogspot.co.nz/2010/10/animal-psychology.html

24. Inspiration from the Bitcoin system
• Decentralised ledgers connected by crypto-
enforced contracts
• Peer-to-peer, irreversible transactions
• 51% agreement = “truth”
• Very low costs, global scale
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25. Takeaways
• Design systems and processes for a low or
zero trust environment.
• Customers can take more responsibility and
actions to protect their privacy.
• Cryptography is expected to be increasingly
used online routinely, just like drawing
curtains in the Panopticon.
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26. Questions / comments
Vikram Kumar
CEO, Mega Ltd.
Email: vikram@mega.co.nz
Twitter: @vikram_nz
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