Privacy is a basic right that every single human being should possess. Tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook create a threat against our privacy which they unscrupulously sell. Even our governments are beginning to tap our digital presences and invade our personal spaces. For example, in 2013, American whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked classified data revealing numerous global surveillance programs led by the NSA and other prominent entities.
In this short clip, Snowden argues why our fundamental right of privacy is so important EVEN if you have nothing to hide and this is why the violation of our personal information is so outrageous. In a society where protecting one’s information is becoming harder and harder, we need to understand why privacy is so important for each and everyone of us and how to defend it.
Saying you do not care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” – Edward Snowden
You already use privacy in your lives. You give your private information to those you trust and you know will guard it safely. But can we trust these companies to protect our data? No. The effects of this surveillance are not tangible in our countries but who knows when they will start truly impacting your lives. Imagine being refused a job because your private online identity was broken into. This type of thing is what might happen. Imagine everything you say or think being accessible online by everyone. You every opinion, belief, emotion being open to any onlooker.
The right to privacy is linked to all our rights that give us freedom; freedom of speech, of religion and conscience cannot exist without privacy. For example, the Soviet Union possessed a huge network of informants that reported any action that was anti-communist and anti-USSR. Reported civilians that had merely given their opinion in a private setting were often executed or deported. Picture living in a world where everything you say is recorded.
Our data is being stored and sold but luckily, in Western countries, our human rights to expression are protected. This is not the case everywhere and many countries punish statements that do not agree with their philosophies. Imagine if these oppressive countries knew what their every citizen had ever said or done.
George Orwell’s 1984
George Orwell’s book 1984 is set in a totalitarian country based on Soviet Russia. In this world, the populations are heavily controlled and are constantly observed and recorded. The citizens suffer an intense flood of propaganda and are taught to hate and fear their government. The novel follows a man in this dictature that tries to escape and rebel but we can sadly observe that, without any means of privacy, without a way to think alone and discuss his ideas with others he is crushed by the government, his hope murdered and his soul tortured.
The Cambridge Analytica Scandal
This example truly illustrates the dangers of having one’s privacy compromised. This company used Facebook and the data that Facebook collects on its users to influence the US presidential election on Donald Trump’s behalf. Using a third party Facebook app named “This is your Digital Life”, it collected information on about 87 million users! It learned about their feelings, opinions, beliefs and which subjects they’d be sensitive to. They used this information to micro-target these users with messages that might influence and interest them. They did all this to swing the US elections to Donald’s Trump advantage. Its quite frightening to see how big of an impact the collected amount we users generate can have on real-life events like actual presidential elections.
Privacy enables people to think and to interact without needing to share with the entire world and without being influenced. It creates an insulated space where one can create, explore and contemplate while not afraid of being criticized and condemned. Privacy nurtures morality, progress and change and it is key to having an equal society where are fundamental rights are respected.
Creative Bibliolatry 