Technology hides the existence of data. It hides it from the user, but it actually makes that data visible, if only we know how. It’s like they built a secret compartment in your brain and took all those images and sound and thought and put them into a different compartment. That’s why technology is always hiding something… it wants to make you think there is a wall. But the truth is there is no wall – it is just a door.
So why does technology hide information? It’s simple – business confidentiality. Every business person has some sort of proprietary information that they don’t want the competition to have. They don’t want their customers to be able to see their information, but they also don’t want the competition to know what it is either. And, if the competition can’t see it – they can’t steal it (there’s a reason they call it a lockbox).
For example, if you work for a small business, your boss does not want the competition to know what you are doing with your time or where you are spending it. However, if you work for a large corporation, then it’s no problem because they have lots of money to spend on technology that is hidden and therefore, you are unable to see it. Of course, there is always the possibility that you are passing along this information to the competition, but that would be stealing – and that’s illegal.
There are many more examples of hidden technology in business. Your company probably has an entire system dedicated to keeping track of everything that happens on their computer. In order to access that information, they have to connect to a server somewhere, copy that information (which can be lost forever), and then send it off again. Then they have to keep track of which employee downloaded what to whom. If you think about it, that could be an entire business department right there on your desk! It doesn’t need to be that way.
When you are shopping for technology hides the existence of data from being seen, consider some of the other options that are available. Do you really need software to track who has been looking at your computer, or how much has been downloaded? Have you ever thought about using biometrics to gain access to the information? Using voice recognition software means that employees never have to be aware that anything is going on, so the data stays hidden.
Whether you shop for hidden technology that hides data or shop for technology that actually hides data, you might like the idea of one or the other. However, you don’t have to rely exclusively on one particular hiding technology. In fact, you should make it a point to use several different types of technologies in order to maximize the protection that you feel you receive. If you use the technology that hides the data, you have to think carefully about what it hides and why. If you use the technology that actually hides the data, you will also have to make sure that you don’t use technology that can allow others to see the data as well.