Privacy: Do we want to live in a world where nothing is private?

©2008 Roger Blackwell, used under
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What does it mean to have privacy?  Immediately the ability to keep secrets comes to mind.  That can't be the only reason to have privacy can it? 

Let's start with how privacy is defined; "The state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people."  I like this particular definition because it carries a sense of inherent right, which allows one to live in a manner of their choosing without the threat of persecution.  This definition echoes the sentiments portrayed by the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in the Preamble as it describes, "...unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

Now, these are very broad definitions and feelings of privacy, so what does having privacy really mean?  Like most societal issues, the practical side of privacy is complicated and interwoven into many aspects of our lives, most notably with issues of public safety and technology.  I tend to look at these issues in a simplified way as if it only involved two people.  As far as I'm concerned, society shouldn't take away rights or interfere in person A's life unless the results of the actions of person A infringe on the rights of person B.  In other words, person B should not be allowed to infringe on person A's privacy without a clearly defined and direct conflict in rights between the parties.  The important thing here is the conflict has to be confirmed and defined BEFORE rights can be suspended and not the other way around.

Some might say, 'I have nothing to hide.  Only those that have something to hide care about privacy."  While it may be true that they have nothing to hide, the idea of privacy is misunderstood and the sentiment is misguided.  Privacy is about the information, which is taken without permission or consent, used to enable actions against those from whom the information was taken. 

Hypothetically speaking, imagine a woman with no privacy and the police are informed she was just divorced, bought a shotgun, asked her phone, "I need to hide a body," and bought a one-way plane ticket to Mexico.  Getting this information, the police might easily assume this woman was planning on murdering her ex-husband and planning on leaving the country.  Now, does this information create a complete picture and thereby require police action to intervene before this woman commits a crime?  Or could it be, this hypothetical woman while moving into her new place because of the divorce was mugged, which prompted her to buy a shotgun out of fear for her safety and a new cell phone because the last one was stolen.  Her new phone was an upgrade to an iPhone 4S, which her friend proceeded to show her all the funny responses Siri had for questions like, "Talk to me dirty" and "I need to hide a body," while they were planning a Cancun getaway to forget the horrible divorce and mugging when in a fit of laughter about Siri's responses she accidentally booked a one-way flight instead of round trip.  How does the innocent woman, who might have had the police forcibly enter her home, detain her while she was bathing, and brought to trial based on evidence gathered without a probable cause defend herself?  Sure given the right attorney, one would hope this hypothetical woman wouldn't go to jail; but now that she is detained, information like the email she sent month's ago in desperation telling her mother that, "...I don't know what I would do if he left me" begin to surface.  Given enough information to pull from there is certainly to be a sufficient number of little pieces of evidence pointing toward this woman's plot to murder her husband.

If you are thinking, 'that could never happen and even if it did they would have to tell me my information was being monitored!' you'd be unfortunately very wrong.  This NYTimes article describes how much information a cell phone and especially a smartphone can reveal about you if someone spent the time to look.  It isn't just the police that you might have to worry about.  Many "free" online services are only provided to you without charge because YOU are the product being sold to other customers who buy consumer information.  These tactics are described in detail, along with some things you can do to minimize your exposure in this TechEye article.

We don't live in a perfect world, one in which we can expect privacy at all times and in all places.  So the question is, 'How much privacy should we expect?'  We should stand up for ourselves so that we don't have to live in a world of fear and exploitation.  It is far too easy to give up our rights and liberties, but it is far from easy to get them back once we do.