Albert Wenger is a partner of New York venture capital firm Union Square. There he invests in companies like Twitter, Tumblr, Zynga, Etsy, Kickstarter, SoundCloud or Foursquare. Companies of which studied computer scientist and economist believe that y could recirculate ir industry.
Online Time: Mr Wenger, se days, Facebook is facing its perhaps greatest crisis of confidence. The company has given errors in data scandal. However, it is also a victim of Cambridge Analytica, company that collected data from 50 million Facebook profiles to influence US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. However, extent to which this has been achieved is unclear. Is she surprised by scandal?
Albert Wenger: No. But Facebook is not a victim here. In dealing with Cambridge Analytica, responsible person has not escaped anything technical. Cambridge Analytica used Facebook just as it was provided by Facebook. Many people just didn't know that ir information was disseminated by ir friends. Facebook simply gave m feeling that ir data was more protected than it actually was. I think that is still case in many respects.
The idea that my data belongs to me all by myself is difficult. Albert Wenger, venture investorOnline Time: So, do we need more stringent data protection to prevent this from happening again?
Wenger: No. I grew up in Germany with word data protection. And I believe that wrong approach lies in word formation alone. Ultimately, it's not about protecting data. It's about protecting people. But idea that my data belongs to me all by myself is difficult. The moment I send m to someone else, that one has a copy of m too. Facebook can say that its terms and conditions require that user data that is passed on must be deleted at some point, but if someone like Cambridge Analytica really deletes m or not, it is difficult to understand.
Albert Wenger began his doctorate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at delicious. From Bookmarkingservice he made a company and sold it to Yahoo. Since n he has worked as an investor. He is also a popular speaker for lectures on Ted conferences, among ors. © PrivateOnline Time: But just because it's difficult doesn't mean that Facebook shouldn't have tried it.
Wenger: The attempt to enforce very strict data protection will have negative consequences for innovation, but also for society.
Online Time: What are consequences?
Wenger: Working on data protection will often have exactly opposite effect that one would expect. We live in a world where a few states and a few corporations have extremely much data and all ors are datenarm. Often programming a software is favorable, but compliance with privacy policy is expensive. The more difficult it is for companies to comply with legal requirements, fewer companies will be able to afford it. Many of existing regulations mean that relationship between a state and large firms on one hand and citizen and small firms on or is unbalanced. For example, take a current technology such as face detection. Does it really help individuals if we forbid m because y could violate ir privacy? Ultimately, such a ban only means that state and big companies use this technology, but everyone else does not. This is a dangerous imbalance.
Online Time: Should we not try to protect privacy of individuals?
Wenger: Strict privacy and technological progress are incompatible. This does not necessarily mean that I have to publish all my data. But often worries about privacy are not justified. If, for example, tax declaration of all is actually secret, but your own is on internet, n this could lead to disadvantages for you. But in a country like Sweden, where all tax returns are public, no one is discriminated against because ir own documents are public. Privacy is not a value in itself. I believe that we have created m to protect or values.
Online Time: What or values are se?
Wenger: For example, freedom of thought, freedom to express yourself or freedom from persecution by state or by ors.
Date Of Update: 26 March 2018, 12:03
