[Ach] anecdote: how to quantify social change/perception

[Aaron Zauner]

Hi Guys,

So I just sat in the tramway back from our meeting. Next to me sits this
mid-20ties girl with her parents. After a couple of minutes she starts
explaining about an article she read about public key cryptography,
mentioning alice, bob, eve and explaning (very simple) attacks. Her parents
seemed to be extremely interested.

I guess wide spread government surveillance had something beautiful to
contribute to society in the end: public discussion and interest in
cryptography and how to stop people subverting your privacy. I mean people
like us knew of these possibilities for years, and we expected governments
to use them as they did. But public perception has been far off, and
changed dramatically due to coverage by newspapers worldwide: "I don't have
anything to hide" -> "Why should I let someone into my personal life that I
do not even know (or maybe do not even trust)?"

Good night,
Aaron
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