Show HN: Contextual Privacy: Can something be private yet discoverable?
twitter.comHey everyone,
Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring a new way to think about online privacy and social interactions. The concept we’re calling "contextual privacy" moves beyond the typical public vs. private divide. In real life, privacy is more nuanced—think of a coffee shop or a conference where conversations are private but you can still overhear interesting snippets. We’ve applied this idea online, giving users more control over when they’re discoverable.
Here is the demo video: https://x.com/indexnetwork_/status/1828847341001924833
And our short article about it: https://blog.index.network/can-something-be-private-yet-disc...
Curious about your thoughts. I don't understand what this is, to be honest. > Each message and interaction becomes a privacy setting, enabling constant negotiation and adjustment of privacy boundaries. How? What does this really mean, in concrete terms? I have more thoughts, but since I'm not understanding the proposal, they may not be relevant. Hey John, Thanks for your comment! Have you checked the Twitter video? It’s essentially a privacy toggle, but instead of just public or private options, privacy is determined by the context. In a conversational setup, context is made up of messages, so each message becomes a privacy setting. > Have you checked the Twitter video? No, I haven't. I don't do Twitter and won't be able to watch videos until later regardless. I was hoping that the article you linked to would have described it, at least enough to give me an idea of whether looking into it more deeply is worthwhile. > It’s essentially a privacy toggle [...] Yes, that's what I got from the article. I just don't know what that actually means in concrete terms. It sounds to me like a method of finding the right audience rather than a method of preserving any sort of privacy. Regardless, I suspect this isn't really a thing of value to me. I wish you the best, though!