On our way back from visiting David Bullock in Nashville, Sue and I stopped for gas in Woodford County, Illinois.

When I am traveling, I will often pick up a county newspaper.

I do this because I often get a “folksy” perspective on what is happening in the news from these smaller papers.

Sure, you will also find plenty of irrelevant articles about a local 200 pound pig that won first place at the town fair.

But this time I was really surprised to find a story in the Woodford County News Bulliten about a counter terrorist and criminal data gathering intelligence platforms. This has been developed as an initiative between Microsoft and various state and federal authorities.

Microsoft and Illinois State Police Collaboration on Homeland Security Fusion Centers  

The collaboration between Microsoft and various state and federal authorities is something you should know about. In essence Microsoft will be assisting federal and state level officials in organizing and analyzing large amounts of online actionable data that can be used to prevent criminal online activity.

”The proof of concept developed by Microsoft and the Illinois State Police demonstrates the progress being made in information sharing as well as the ability to make a higher volume and diversity of information more broadly accessible to authorities than before. As the relationship between the two organizations continues, experts in intelligence, operations and technology will address the challenge of accessing, managing, assessing and analyzing this new body of data and disseminating actionable knowledge to decision makers in a timely manner.“

How does this program (and crime-prevention initiatives like it) potentially provide Microsoft (as well as state and federal authorities) with your personal data?

As you know, Theme Zoom is an intelligence tool of sorts. The focus is on purchasing behaviors and purchase language.  

During the process of building Theme Zoom I have had the gift of working with some of the most talented people in the world. These people are MUCH smarter than me, and they can (without permission) gain access to data that shocks even me.

Data sets include competitor weblog files, competitor click-paths, competitor hidden URLS, Competitor Domains, and don't even get me started..

As a marketer I have been blown away by the amount of personal online behavior data that is available to anyone who simply knows how to look for it.
Now take what few things I have learned while building Theme Zoom and multiply that by one thousand. Then add Microsoft technology interacting with State and Federal intelligence databases. Toss in the Homeland Security Act and you have, well, ZERO privacy folks.

Just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not following you. (Grin).

Am I paranoid?

No.

Am I worried about the potential violation of privacy that comes from massive databases being compiled by corporations such as Microsoft, Google (who works in collaboration with the CIA) and other corporate conglomerates?

No.

Why am I undaunted by all of these anti-terrorist initiatives?

Suffice it to say that when it comes to online philosophy- your best bet is to not have very many secrets.

If you have read Wikinomics, you will understand that transparency has its benefits. It is becoming very clear, especially in the programming and data space- the more you share, the more you win.

Now granted, you need to share with the right people, and pick the right partners. It is not enough to have a great story. You have to know WHY you are telling the story- and have a passionate reason to tell it.

When you pick teams, partners, and JV’s that share your passion for the story- transparency becomes much easier.

Now take the last paragraph, and replace the word “story” with “data”.

When it comes to data, merely “having it” is not enough.

People need to know what to do with data, no matter how classified it is.

This is where Microsoft has stepped in with "FusionX". This proof-of-concept project makes the mass volume of available online behaviors more actionable by federal and state authorities.

It is likely that "FusionX" will be working with ISP’s as well as using current technologies implemented by Homeland Security that parses the major hubs for specific words (using text summarization) as well as erratic behaviors around hubs where known criminal activity exists.

Look folks, take it from me- radical transparency is here to stay- unless the economy crashes or the United States is destroyed from within. (No comment on either of these at this time).

I’m not sure how radical my position, but I definitely fall on the side of “radical transparency” even if this notion still seems a little naive according to the average venture capitalists.

Secrecy is dying. It's probably already dead- says Wired Magazine editor Clive Thompson in his article “The See-Through CEO”.  

In a world where Eli Lilly's internal drug-development memos, Paris Hilton's phonecam images, Enron's emails, and even the governor of California's private conversations can be instantly forwarded across the planet, trying to hide something illicit - trying to hide anything, really - is an unwise gamble.

All of which explains why the cult of transparency has so many high tech converts these days. Transparency is a judo move. Your customers are going to poke around in your business anyway, and your workers are going to blab about internal info - so why not make it work for you by turning everyone into a partner in the process and inviting them to do so?

Some of this isn't even about business; it's a cultural shift, a redrawing of the lines between what's private and what's public.

For me, authenticity comes from online exposure. Someday it may even be hard to trust anyone who doesn't list their dreams and fears on Facebook.

Outside of the major arguments taking place in the tech community about “transparency” I will close this rant by waxing just a little esoteric:

There are no secrets better kept than the secrets that everybody guesses.

- George Bernard Shaw

   Russell Wright