While this may sound weird under /c/privacy, it captures what I also feel at the heart of privacy in society — sustainable of diverse individual perspectives. When surveillance succeeds in shaping our thoughts and hence actions, we end up with centralized ways of thinking. 3 billion internet users but perhaps only 3 million different perspectives (and increasingly narrowing down). Lack of social diversity weakens social capacity to fight back against social threats.

Genetic diversity gives species the tools to tackle new challenges such as disease or a changing climate. The uniformity of macadamia orchards leaves cultivated trees vulnerable. In contrast, wild macadamias are very genetically diverse, so protecting wild trees is critical to the survival of the species, she says.