Freedom Friday Time - On Freedom of Information...

#FreedomFriday - with a writing prompt of "Freedom of Information"

This week brings a special collaboration between @eaglespirit (who first initiated it) and @InformationWar
The topic is Freedom of Information tied into information war specifically. Definition is "information warfare is the tactical and strategic use of information to gain an advantage. It includes multiple types of operations and has been pursued in radically different ways during different eras. Information warfare is also known as cyberwarfare, electronic warfare and cyberattack." source

We're in the "Information Age" where access to information is plentiful, almost overwhelming at times and often hard to make sense of.

Things are changing so quickly and to be free and feel secure in this world there is a necessity to build a mental stability and emotional security. To be strong in yourself to face these barrage of forces that will come in the form of informational wars.
Also to understand yourself fully both at an operational level and at a kernel level and also hopefully having a desire to know the truth and live in the role of truth, moving away from the delusional and being able to fortify yourself against the onslaught of manipulations and control sought after by the business sector and governments.

With the rapid advances in technology and the collection of data, plus the capacity to be able to read algorithms, this has bought about a new power where reading the algorithms can allow those interpreting the data to know things about you before you do. Now that's scary!

TechTarget gives a description of Big Data and Data Collection -

New approaches for collecting and analyzing data have emerged. To gather and then mine big data for information, raw data with extended metadata is aggregated in a data lake. From there, machine learning and artificial intelligence programs use complex algorithms to look for repeatable patterns.

They describe "Big Data" as:

Stamford, Conn.-based IT research firm Gartner Inc. defines "big data" as "high-volume, velocity and/or variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing that enable enhanced insight, decision making and process automation." Other experts point out that big data might include unstructured textual information from social media sites, machine-generated log data and a host of other information collected by cloud applications, on-premises applications and websites.

The data is pouring in from online trackers, those smart phones we carry around with us, smart sensors and devices, cloud computing solutions, social networks, surveys, eCommerce transactions and activity plus much more.

The funny thing is that what is considered "Big Data" today may soon become just "data" for what will be gathered in the future.

What will they do with all that data mining?

Put this into the hands of marketers with a combination of human and artificial intelligence -
They can come up with clever insights and watching patterns make predictions that will give them an incredible advantage. They can manipulate our desires and increase their sales. They can market more effectively building their profit margins but also losing touch with any sense of humanity.

Give it to governments -
They are gathering data from the healthcare and financial sectors, from educational institutes, and national security, plus more. This is very valuable information that could be used for the advantage of the public or it can be used to better control populations, manipulating things to their own means or make them the Orwell’s Big Brother. There needs to be more government transparency for what they are collecting and how they are using it.
I'm sorry but I have no faith in government and do not believe they have the peoples best interest in mind but more the desire to stay in power and serve their own interests and the interest of those connected with them.

What comes about from this could be very invasive.

Think of the "Internet of Things" or lo T, described as:

a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
Source

This has applications in smart homes, smart buildings, smart appliances, smart TV, smart cars, smart cities, smart farming, smart health and wearables. They give an expandable attack surface which leaves them vulnerable to hacking and attacks.

Combine all this data with true artificial intelligence that can learn on it's own, improving and enhancing it's capabilities. A lot of power lies there and many of us are left in the dark for how much effect it can have on us in our day-to-day lives.
And what of the quantum computers that will power all the A.I. systems? How dangerous can they be if they get into the wrong hands? There is a responsibility that comes with the collection of big data and quantum computers. It requires top-grade encryption keys to keep it all safe and confidential.

Elon Musk a renown futurist, has raised concerns of potential danger of the fast growing pace of A.I. even to the point of developing a Future of Life Institute and setting aside ten million dollars towards research projects

Now do you see why I feel there is a need to empower yourself, give yourself clarity to see things the way they really are and to be able to see through the lies and misinformation.
A couple of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn emotional intelligence and develop mental balance.
With these fast changing times, learn how to keep changing and reinventing yourself, this may be the best tools to possess.

The 2 Most Important Skills For the Rest Of Your Life | Yuval Noah Harari

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