New technology is always viewed with suspicion. In the early 19th century, people feared that the cows would stop giving milk when the steam train passed by. People didn’t trust that sissing, puffing and steaming enormous moving piece of metal. Sometimes it is the other way around. Today, the ultimate form of digital trust, mindlessly driving your car into a canal because Google Maps told you to turn left on a non-existent road, is close to stupidity. Humans and technology once again battle to adapt. The question always remains: who is adapting to whom? In this case, what is digital trust?
Luckily, we have the definition of the Economic Forum: Digital trust is individuals’ expectation that digital technologies and services — and the organisations providing them — will protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expectations and values. But as we know, expectations are assumptions and the mother of all disasters. Trust, digital or not, is a human state of mind. So what do you expect?
The assumption is that the expectations of individuals in the digital world are: fast, easy, in real-time, and flawless. After all, there are no physical obstacles, information travels at the speed of light, and jurisdictional borders don’t exist online. Rephrased: The…
