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Is the Internet as healthy as before? This is a question that is asked a lot right now, but to answer it, we must first define what we mean by healthy.
True, it is much bigger than it has ever been before and the underlying infrastructure is stronger than ever; Rich interactive experiences have replaced static pages of text, and thousands of other applications and innovations are flourishing now, which we take for granted.
But we also feel that the Internet is less healthy than before; that the idealism of the beginnings was replaced by a cynical manipulation.
The maker of open source Mozilla browsers tries every year to measure the health of the Internet from the point of view of each user.
In this year's analysis, some points are positive. that the Internet and our relationships with it – are becoming more and more healthy.
He notes that requests for privacy are becoming more common, thanks to high-profile incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but also to the introduction of usable frameworks for digital privacy and security, such as the European GDPR, which have made privacy real and enforceable. It is quite possible that privacy laws like this one will spread further in the near future.
There are also – some – small steps to make sure that the use of artificial intelligence is responsible and widely understood. Questions about the role and responsibility of "big tech" also continue to grow.
More and more people understand that when we use seemingly free internet services, whether it is search, email or social media, we enter into a good deal and that we do not have a business. may not appreciate the price, in terms of privacy, pay.
Mozilla also indicates some reasons to be less optimistic about the future. He notes that governments around the world continue to restrict Internet access in many ways, including 188 Internet crashes worldwide last year, as well as Internet slowdowns. making services virtually impossible to use. It highlights the increasingly heavy use of biometrics and digital identities to monitor people and warns that AI is used to "amplify injustice" when it discriminates against groups. on the basis of incorrect data or false assumptions.
SEE: Company Sensor & # 39; d: IoT, ML and Big Data (ZDNet Special Report) | Download the report in PDF format (TechRepublic)
For me, this shows that deciding whether the Internet is healthy or not depends both on where you are and your identity. The most positive aspect is perhaps that at least we now understand the symptoms, and maybe even a rough diagnosis, at least for the internet problems in the West. But since the business models of the largest companies are based on gathering as much personal information as possible, it can be very difficult to find a viable solution.
And beyond that, the problem is that there are too many governments and regimes that rely on censorship, ubiquitous surveillance and the lack of privacy and see in those- Here are the advantages of the new technology, not the failures. They have already seized the opportunity to use technology to stifle dissent and reinforce their own worldview. Hatching these tools from their hands – and preventing others from taking them – will be a huge challenge.
The biggest problem may not be that the Internet is sick; The real risk is that not everyone wants to see it in good health.
THE OPENING OF MONDAY MORNING OF ZDNET:
Monday morning opening is our opening salvo for the week in technology. Since we manage a global site, this editorial is published on Monday at 8:00 am in Sydney, Australia, at 6:00 pm Eastern Time on Sunday in the United States. It is written by a member of ZDNet's global editorial board, composed of our leading publishers in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
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