Now that I’ve heard a few voices here, and for the most part we seem to be on the same page, let me share the deeper issue here that’s concerning me.
By all reasonable standards, this is a person we would expect to have understanding of how these things work. You don’t become the CEO of a small software company that’s been in business for nearly 30 years by being ignorant about computers. (Okay, maybe some people do, but they generally don’t stay in business for long after that.)
If someone like Josh can get something so straightforward and fundamental so very wrong, is it any wonder “ordinary” users make the same mistake, over and over again?
Is there something inherently wrong with how we (collective industry- and community-wide “we”) try to educate people about data safety, data security, and similar issues? Is there something wrong with our expectations of responsibility for these situations, on the part of both users and developers?
Should we be expecting and demanding better from the industry than what we’re getting?
I don’t have answers to any of these questions. But I think it’s long overdue for the community to re-evaluate our expectations, what we’re willing to put up with from computer companies, and what responsibility and/or liability the companies should be expected to take on when things go wrong because users don’t understand.