Never in the history of humankind have we advanced so fast. In just 40 years, we have built a new era and have said goodbye to the industry age. But will our future be an amazing world of opportunity where every citizen has the same opportunity as any other, or will we end up in a 1984 Big Brother world? At the core of this is the debate around privacy. Bruce Schneier sees this as a core element in building our digitally focused societies:

“Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect. It is about choice, and having the power to control how you present yourself to the world.”

and:

“Google knows more about what I’m thinking of than I do, because Google remembers all of it perfectly and forever.”

and for our new digital world:

“One hundred years ago, everyone could have personal privacy. You and your friend could walk into an empty field, look around to see that no one else was nearby, and have a level of privacy that has forever been lost.”

In my career, there was a time before I read Secrets & Lies … and there was a time after I had read it. It completely changed my focus. In fact, no other author (apart from George Orwell) has had an effect on my thoughts on the future world:

Bruce showed me a vision of the most trusted world. He made public key encryption interesting, and I could immediately see how cryptography could be used to rebuild our flawed digital world. I now teach and research cryptography, and I love the subject. I thank Bruce for taking me away from network switching and routers and showing me the beauty of a subject where you learn every single day.