The truth is that we are hypocritical about privacy. We sign up for sites where we can share too much publically, and then balk because someone might have seen it.

Dictators, mired in more technologically primitive societies, didn't develop the fearsome new implements of control of the National Security State. Google and other leaders in this field of massively mined and shared information did.

In the coming weeks, as we've seen every year for the past six, there will be endless reports detailing the digital dangers and identity threats lurking in every corner of our highly networked universe. But to what end?

From identity theft to cyber-warfare, our inability to weigh risks in a rational way is costing us big time --- and may ultimately be our undoing.