Gus Hosein on Privacy: We’ve been well meaning but stupid

Dr. Gus Hosein is a 20+year-veteran of Privacy International. So to say that he knows a lot about privacy will be an understatement. But his knowledge is not merely academic. Gus and his scrappy team of privacy crusaders have fought the long and hard war for privacy by putting everything on the line, over and over again. A war where on a good day you might feel like a David facing off a Goliath. And yet, time and time again, Privacy International has taken on seemingly lost battles and scored victories from the jaws of defeat. I don’t know about you but to me, these are the kinds of people I want to hang out around, talk to, model, and learn from. The kind of people I want to interview. And Dr. Hosein is as good an example of the kind as I can ever think of. So I hope you enjoy and learn from our conversation as much as I did. During this 2-hour interview with Gus Hosein, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why he’s a failed mathematician with an interest in cryptography; how he ended up in policy; figuring out the role that tech plays in our life and the future; good timing, gumption and [stoic] fate; the mission and funding of Privacy International; why progress is made of partial victories; the definition of privacy and why we should care about it; the importance of being able to tell your own story; surveillance, national monitoring centers, and IMSI catchers; 5G, quantum encryption and the weakest link of the system; my persistent attempt to get to a new place or reach a new insight during my Singularity.FM interviews; the boring projection of our better selves and the benefits of struggle; why people should be free to be human – i.e. imperfect. My favorite quote that I will take away from this conversation with Gus Hosein is his raw and off-the-cuff unique definition of privacy: [Privacy is] The ability to establish the conditions by which we are seen, perceived, understood, and how we project ourselves. As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/singularityfm