I thought in my article today, it would be interesting to discuss online privacy. It seems that there are a lot of articles out there about the kind of information that companies have on people - the real question in my mind is what kind of information is it and how is it being used?
Let's start with a basic example: Facebook. On top of the typical stuff (that is used in many security questions) such as birthday, where you went to school, etc, Facebook also collects all the other information that you share. This includes everything you "like" from Coca-Cola to your friend's comments on last nights Breaking Bad episode. If you ever wondered how all that data is used, go into the Facebook advertising tool. It is absolutely absurd how deep you can target with Facebook advertising - age, sex, region of the country, job description, music tastes, salary info in some cases and a lot more. This is why Facebook is worth so much - it is an advertisers dream to be able to target so precisely.
Funny thing is, Facebook is child's play to some other companies when it comes to pushing privacy concerns. Take any variety of behavior targeting advertisements and scrutinize them to understand why. Behavior targeted ads are essentially ads online that glean information based on your past search history and then try and predict relevant advertising content for you on future pages that you browse. Have you ever wondered why when you are doing research on what new TV to buy or what stereo is the best that suddenly your banner and side bar advertisements start showing "the best deal ever" on that sweet Samsung 32' flat screen? That is behavior based advertising in a nutshell.
Why worry about behavior based ads? Well the fact most likely is that you never opted-in to allow these companies to pull data from your internet browser that enables them to "cater" these ads to you. Furthermore it is a complete breach of privacy because these ads are set up as algorithms that don't really have much (if any) human touch - imagine how embarrassing it would be if you found out you have irritable bowel syndrome and were browsing online for information on it when later on you are showing a colleague something on your web-browser and all it is showing is IBS drug ads stating that you have IBS and need to take this drug. Maybe not the worst thing in the world, but the same thing could apply if you are pregnant and the company is downsizing (that might make you first on the chopping block) or if you have a mental problem that you don't want your boss or colleagues to know about (could make it hard or impossible to move up in the organization if they find out by looking at your browser ads). Essentially, no user really gains much from these behavior based ads in exchange for giving up a huge chunk of their privacy.
Another example that I think is really becoming egregious is location based tracking mechanisms. There have been stories written about people that check-in on Foursquare only to come home and find their house robbed. Turns out criminals have access to enough data to find out who you are, where you live, then wait for you to not be home and rob you. What about a more futuristic example where someone is tagged at a party then is pulled over on the way home and immediately accused of DUI - there is evidence they were at a party with alcohol and driving... clear cut case right (except maybe they didn't drink at all or had 1 drink in 2 hours)?
Apple was in the news a few months ago for "inadvertently" tracking where every owner of an iPhone was for something like a year (assuming they brought their phone with them). Why should you be concerned about that? Well, first of all, if I'm giving that kind of info to Apple, I damn well better get a discount. Back to the point though, Apple can sell that data to any of their app providers to make more targeted ads. If it shows you live in Phoenix, but fly to San Diego every week viola you have airline offers and hotel companies breathing down your neck. Again, not the biggest deal maybe, but I'm no hacker or crook either - I'm sure there are a myriad of ways to use this data to hurt someone too if it was ever accidentally leaked.
Am I too paranoid about my privacy? Probably yes. I'll tell you right now though that it is worth it - I can sleep easy at night knowing that I'm not going to get robbed because I'm disclosing I'm away from home or that I lost out on a good job because my friend tagged me on Facebook with a embarrassing picture. The bottom line for me is, if I'm giving up all this control and risking identity theft or worse, I better be getting something awesome in return. Let me know your thoughts down below and subscribe if you haven't already!
See you next time.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Flat Tax Will Never Be Implemented
There has been a lot of discussion on both sides in Washington these days about how to reduce the size of the US deficit. One way of doing so is "increasing revenue" or basically bringing in more taxes. One of the more left-leaning policy ideas is to tax the rich more. I'm not going to get into my feelings on the subject other than to say that an alternative theory is to implement a "flat tax" or "consumption tax."
A flat tax for those of you who don't know is basically a tax system in which there is one rate that everyone pays. Many advocates for a flat tax would like to see it implemented in a manner that basically abolishes a person's income tax and instead raises the tax everyone pays on consumption. The theory goes that everyone will pay the same rate on the stuff they buy in essence meaning that everyone pays the same amount. Rich people will naturally spend more and therefore pay more tax, but it will be "fair" because they pay the same tax rate on purchasing an item than anyone else would.
Personally, I believe the flat tax as I described about would be a good idea, but the reality of it is that a consumption tax will never get implemented. There are too many political landmines and economic traps to scrapping the system we have now and implementing a flat tax.
First, many good jobs would become obsolete if a flat tax was implemented. The IRS would not be shut down, but they would have a lot less work to do and a big chunk of the agency would have to be let go. Additionally, any income tax accountant would be out of a job creating a glut of well trained CPAs and tax preparers that would be out of a job. This would negatively impact the economy terribly as perhaps as many as a few hundred thousand good jobs would be gone.
Second, for all the big talk, Washington has no spine. This can be seen almost weekly it seems these days. The amount of fortitude it would take to get legislation passed that would completely scrap the current income tax code would be monumental as well as nigh impossible.
Thirds, there would be a major problem in terms of 401k and other retirement accounts. There is $13.3T invested into various types of retirement accounts as of 2004 according to this report. While not all of this money is in a individual retirement account such as a IRA or 401k, there is definitely trillions of dollars invested into these vehicles. Perhaps the only reason someone invests into an account they can't access until they "retire" (usually about 65) without a penalty is that they get some type of preferential tax treatment. If income tax were to be abolished, these accounts would suddenly lose a huge portion of their relative worth.
Additionally, anyone who invested into a retirement account where they paid tax on the money going in (such as a Roth IRA) are much worse off than someone that invested in a regular IRA with pre tax dollars because not only did they pay tax and the regular IRA person didn't, but the base of their entire investment was lower as well causing less growth and less compounding returns. There is no way for anyone to figure out a "fair" way to handle these issues if income tax were to be abolished.
Lastly, a flat tax will never be implemented because it actually discourages consumption (i.e. people spending money). The hit that the economy would take as a result of people saving more of their money and spending less on non-essential goods would be potentially massive. No politician or ordinary American would volunteer to push down economic growth of the country and risk a recession or even a depression caused by a significant drop in consumer spending.
Overall, I do believe a flat tax is a "fairer" way of taxation, but the reality is that it is something that will never be implemented in reality mainly due to the severe short-term to medium-term economic harm it would cause upon implementation. Let me know if you think I'm wrong!
As always, follow me on twitter @mdperovich and I look forward to reading and responding to your comments (sorry Edwin from a few weeks ago!).
Miles
A flat tax for those of you who don't know is basically a tax system in which there is one rate that everyone pays. Many advocates for a flat tax would like to see it implemented in a manner that basically abolishes a person's income tax and instead raises the tax everyone pays on consumption. The theory goes that everyone will pay the same rate on the stuff they buy in essence meaning that everyone pays the same amount. Rich people will naturally spend more and therefore pay more tax, but it will be "fair" because they pay the same tax rate on purchasing an item than anyone else would.
Personally, I believe the flat tax as I described about would be a good idea, but the reality of it is that a consumption tax will never get implemented. There are too many political landmines and economic traps to scrapping the system we have now and implementing a flat tax.
First, many good jobs would become obsolete if a flat tax was implemented. The IRS would not be shut down, but they would have a lot less work to do and a big chunk of the agency would have to be let go. Additionally, any income tax accountant would be out of a job creating a glut of well trained CPAs and tax preparers that would be out of a job. This would negatively impact the economy terribly as perhaps as many as a few hundred thousand good jobs would be gone.
Second, for all the big talk, Washington has no spine. This can be seen almost weekly it seems these days. The amount of fortitude it would take to get legislation passed that would completely scrap the current income tax code would be monumental as well as nigh impossible.
Thirds, there would be a major problem in terms of 401k and other retirement accounts. There is $13.3T invested into various types of retirement accounts as of 2004 according to this report. While not all of this money is in a individual retirement account such as a IRA or 401k, there is definitely trillions of dollars invested into these vehicles. Perhaps the only reason someone invests into an account they can't access until they "retire" (usually about 65) without a penalty is that they get some type of preferential tax treatment. If income tax were to be abolished, these accounts would suddenly lose a huge portion of their relative worth.
Additionally, anyone who invested into a retirement account where they paid tax on the money going in (such as a Roth IRA) are much worse off than someone that invested in a regular IRA with pre tax dollars because not only did they pay tax and the regular IRA person didn't, but the base of their entire investment was lower as well causing less growth and less compounding returns. There is no way for anyone to figure out a "fair" way to handle these issues if income tax were to be abolished.
Lastly, a flat tax will never be implemented because it actually discourages consumption (i.e. people spending money). The hit that the economy would take as a result of people saving more of their money and spending less on non-essential goods would be potentially massive. No politician or ordinary American would volunteer to push down economic growth of the country and risk a recession or even a depression caused by a significant drop in consumer spending.
Overall, I do believe a flat tax is a "fairer" way of taxation, but the reality is that it is something that will never be implemented in reality mainly due to the severe short-term to medium-term economic harm it would cause upon implementation. Let me know if you think I'm wrong!
As always, follow me on twitter @mdperovich and I look forward to reading and responding to your comments (sorry Edwin from a few weeks ago!).
Miles
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Carpal Tunnel - A Generation Killer?
Hey - It's been a while since I've posted something on here. Tough balancing work, family, friends, leisure, trying to learn new things, and this blog. Anyhow, thanks to my international and domestic readership - I've had a fair amount of people read here including people from 3 different continents.
I wanted to post a bit about something that I think will be more and more important as my generation (25-35 year olds) gets older. It is carpal tunnel. With everything becoming more electronic and more online from e-readers to mobile phones that can potentially replace a computer, people are using their hands in many different awkward positions for extended periods of time. Not sure about the rest of you, but I use a computer on average probably at least 8 hours a day plus about 1-2 hours a day browsing information on my phone.
Without proper ergonomics, our entire generation is going to have crumpled hands that will debilitate us in terms of workplace productivity as well as every day tasks such as bathing and cooking. To put it in perspective, this 2002 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the median days from work for repetitive motion problems is 23 days (see here). I can only imagine what a similar study has now with people typing on their laptops on the couch like me, or fingering through their iPhone for hours on end.
For me, I have been acutely aware of this issue since feeling a bit of tenderness and sometimes pain in my hands after a few years working as a "spreadsheet jockey" and using my computer for probably 12 hours a day. Things I have done to help fix this problem will I hope help me in the long run to avoid repetitive motion problems. These include always (or almost always) using a external mouse, taking micro-breaks to stretch my hands and arms every ~hour, and trying to work out more where my hands and arms are stressed in different ways to keep them strong. I would also highly suggest getting a good desk set up wherever you use your computer as that can make a drastic improvement in the reduction of carpal tunnel type issues.
Hopefully I have opened your eyes a bit on this problem even if it is kind of a "silly" issue. Repetitive motion can cause major arthritis, problems opening and closing your hands, and potentially even issues where you can't grip something so it is important to take it seriously. Happy ergo and thanks for reading!
I wanted to post a bit about something that I think will be more and more important as my generation (25-35 year olds) gets older. It is carpal tunnel. With everything becoming more electronic and more online from e-readers to mobile phones that can potentially replace a computer, people are using their hands in many different awkward positions for extended periods of time. Not sure about the rest of you, but I use a computer on average probably at least 8 hours a day plus about 1-2 hours a day browsing information on my phone.
Without proper ergonomics, our entire generation is going to have crumpled hands that will debilitate us in terms of workplace productivity as well as every day tasks such as bathing and cooking. To put it in perspective, this 2002 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the median days from work for repetitive motion problems is 23 days (see here). I can only imagine what a similar study has now with people typing on their laptops on the couch like me, or fingering through their iPhone for hours on end.
For me, I have been acutely aware of this issue since feeling a bit of tenderness and sometimes pain in my hands after a few years working as a "spreadsheet jockey" and using my computer for probably 12 hours a day. Things I have done to help fix this problem will I hope help me in the long run to avoid repetitive motion problems. These include always (or almost always) using a external mouse, taking micro-breaks to stretch my hands and arms every ~hour, and trying to work out more where my hands and arms are stressed in different ways to keep them strong. I would also highly suggest getting a good desk set up wherever you use your computer as that can make a drastic improvement in the reduction of carpal tunnel type issues.
Hopefully I have opened your eyes a bit on this problem even if it is kind of a "silly" issue. Repetitive motion can cause major arthritis, problems opening and closing your hands, and potentially even issues where you can't grip something so it is important to take it seriously. Happy ergo and thanks for reading!
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