Ah, the digital age. Not only does it have a nice ring to it, but its this time in history when almost anything can be accessed at the click of a mouse, the tap of a keyboard, and even the touch of a finger. The world wide web has become humanity's encyclopedia, marketplace, and, in the case of serious social media addicts, therapist. With all of this connectivity, surely problems would arise. People would try to take advantage of this instant accessibility. Luckily, modern technology gives us the gift of encryption. With encryption, service providers are able to carefully mask sensitive and important data from those that might want to take it. This makes for safe use of some of the most popular past-times of the internet, such as shopping, social networking, and even email.
But what if this wasn't the case?
What if we lived in a world without encryption? Or even that technology had evolved to the point where encryption was obsolete? Would Amazon still be a powerhouse? Would people still put all of their information on social media like Facebook or Twitter? These are actually some serious thoughts to ponder, since compromising someone's personal information can lead to devastating results.
One of the major scenarios to look at is online shopping. Clothing shopping, book shopping, video game shopping, pretty much anything can be found for sale online. As long as the company gets a name, usually an email address, and credit card information, the product will soon become yours. Of course, online shopping is one of the most efficient ways to do business between two parties. Then there are the criminals of the web, just waiting for precious information like that to come across them. Think of it like a game of football, when the winning pass is suddenly intercepted by the other team. In the blink of an eye, your information is in the hands of someone else, ready to be used. Now it might be easy at this point to say that online transactions would grind to a screeching halt...but would they? Believe it or not, some people will still risk security for efficiency. While a large majority of the online consumer market may disappear, there would still be a few web-goers looking for a quick bargain.
What if banks or hospitals kept electronic records in the "non-encryption age"? Records that include social security, bank account details, as well as health insurance. Would we, the people, demand they be taken down in place of paper records? The immediate response might be, "heck yes, we would! Break out the pencil and paper!" But another roadblock appears that isn't readily present in computers: human error. Humans are not as accurate as computers, and not as able to see mistakes and correct them. Too much gets withdrawn from the bank, or too high a dosage of a medicine might be given to a patient.
The greatest conundrum in considering a "non-encryption age" is weighing the costs and benefits. Safety for inefficiency? Risk for accuracy? The average person may be more wary of picking up a cell phone or opening up a laptop. The normal household would hold many less electronics than it does in today's society. International relations and communications would become more difficult as a safe connection would be more than rare. It's hard to say that we would all become isolationists, but the would would definitely not be as connected as it is today.
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