It’s smack dab in the middle of a gorgeous summer, I’m on a semi-vacation, and I just had a great day playing tourist in my own town. The whole world seemed to be on holiday today! Sitting down to write for the Digest this week, I have to wonder whether anyone out there is even going to be around to read it. Maybe I can say some outrageous things without garnering the ire of Digest readers (i.e. metadata = personal information in Canada!).

The thing is, I think I have something rather topical to write about. It’s not so much perfectly privacy-related, but it has to do with how completely amazed I am that scenes from the movie "Her" (which Ian Kerr and I discussed in a panel at Symposium) are playing out, in an eerily similar fashion, in the streets and parks of downtown Ottawa (and everywhere else apparently).

Of course, what I’m referring to is how everyone seems to be hyper-glued to their phones these days. We were in a beautiful park today, and that's what everyone was doing. And what the heck is "Pokemon Go"? (Any relation to what the five year olds were into a number of years ago?) What has it done — or is it doing — to our brains to have so many people walking around oblivious to their surroundings, bumping into things (and each other — and me!), and even wandering into dangerous sites (did you hear about the kid who fell off a cliff?) I wonder if they have Pokemon up at the campgrounds and cottages, too ...

We definitely live in interesting times. Things are changing rapidly, ever pushed forward by the latest tech. And you can find a privacy angle in just about all of it. As well as a feeling that our increasing interconnectedness is also increasing our isolation from one another. That's what I see when I look at the sea of folks glued to their phones on a beautiful day.

Lots to think about, debate, discuss (or even play with). Even during these lazy, hazy days of summer.

Have a great summer weekend everyone.