Comments on: Carole King said it best

By: Robin Wilton

Robin Wilton — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:31:30 +0000

Chris – have you tried registering with garlik.com for their Data Patrol service? It won’t tell you all of them, by any means, but I think I can guarantee you’ll be fascinated to see some of the ‘hits’ they get.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:55:27 +0000

Sorry, Pete. I meant that if you’re gleeful, it’d be over the fact that just as you said this stuff is already out there to such a large degree that protecting it is a misallocation of resources. I certainly don’t think you’re a demon, especially in the metaphorical sense of being glad that our personal info is “out there”. I apologize if my remark seemed any broader than that, because it was not meant that way.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:04:10 +0000

Not sure why you like to characterize me as some sort of gleeful demon.. so, to be clear, I am not saying “Yessss!!!” at all. It never occurred to me that the situation was otherwise, and believe it or not I don’t get a whole lot of satisfaction over other people feeling worse. So I am not saying anything.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:49:09 +0000

We’re both right.
Congress could legislatively make identity consumer-centric, is what I meant (eg., by altering the allocation of property rights to give us some variant of ownership over information about ourselves). That’s the “stroke of a pen”.
The status quo has staying power because such a change is quite unlikely. The fact that smart people are betting on the status quo being maintained reinforces my belief on this issue.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 08:41:05 +0000

Chris,
I’m jetlagged and worn out, so maybe its obvious, but how can the value of these companies be wiped out with a stroke of the pen? Both are moving to make identity consumer-centric, rather than database-centric, and I think that has staying power.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:57:45 +0000

Richard:
I was a bit unclear. I said I was led to a conclusion and a question. My conclusion is that such legislation is not forthcoming (evidence: VCs supporting businesses due solely to the absence of such legislation). My question is how would one go about testing the “The data are already all out there” claim.

By: Richard Veryard

Richard Veryard — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 05:58:07 +0000

Chris, you ask whether the problem (together with the value of Cowan’s investment) might be eliminated by legislation, “with a stroke of the pen”. But I think you have answered this question yourself by quoting Gerry Goffin and Carole King – “It’s Too Late Baby”.
See my post on Service-Oriented Security