The Privacy Panic Cycle

Your great-grandparents were terrified of portable cameras because they thought people would steal

their privacy at the beach. Back in 1888, when the first portable Kodak camera dropped,

people didn't think it was a breakthrough. They thought it was creepy. Newspapers literally

warned the public about Kodak Fiends who would snap candid photos of you without permission.

It got so bad that cameras were banned from parks and resorts because society was convinced that

privacy was dead. This is a perfect example of the Privacy Panic Cycle. It is a pattern

that repeats with almost every major innovation. It starts with Trusting Beginnings,

then moves to Rising Panic where the media and politicians convince you that a new gadget is