Why is privacy important
Why do we have to protect it
What happens if we didnt have privacy?
Isnt privacy about the right to be let alone?
Really which one of us wants to be alone?
We constantly need to share something with others.
So isnt it ok if we didnt have too much privacy?
In my opinion when I ask myself these questions, the only thing that I can think of, is yeah, so why are we wearing clothes. We didnt wear any way back then did we? Its probably a childish way of discussing a serious issue.
Privacy is affected by five factors
- The time zone we live in the events that are occuring
(For instance, the purdah system was introduced in the Indian subcontinent, after Indians experienced a series of invasions from foreigners to protect their women)
- The dominant communication medium
(Right now the freeflow of personal information on public arenas such as the internet has changed the way we all understand privacy)
- The individual personality
(Introverts tend to have larger personal spaces and hence a greater need for privacy, and probably tend to be more paranoid about their information, these are the people, who probably surf the internet anonymously)
- The influence of culture and religion
- Power Relationship amongst people who share personal information
Okay now why is privacy important?
Because privacy is not just about the right to be alone. When you are alone, you can think for yourself, and make your choices, and have your free thoughts. When your privacy is being invaded, we are referrng to invading your space, and thus manipulating you.
The medium invading your privacy will slowly begin to manipulate your thoughts, by understanding how you think and work . This is what traditional advertising mediums have been doing. But the problem with invasion of privacy in a ubiquitous world, is the fact that the environment will understand you better and thus be able to manipulate you so silently, that you wouldnt even realise it.
Maybe the idea does seem farfetched. But the reason why I am raising concerns about privacy is because all this is possible in a not so very far future, with simple technologies like RFID, sensors, and ofcourse, unlimited, ubiquitous computing.
Once we have understood how RFID technology along with a host of other technologies can be used to make our world ubiquitously smarter, our whole perspective of the way we communicate changes. Your toothpaste would inform the supermarket that its getting over and apply for a new toothpaste. You could have a book that knows the last line you read, and immediately open to the page where you left. Your car would self start as soon as it sees you approaching. The future is not a science fiction dream, all these and much more is possible with technologies like RFID. The question is at what cost are we arriving at this kind of future. Yes, you will be leaving an information trail wherever you go. And you maybe tracked, followed, and observed for a reason or for no reason. This is a technology that in the background, within inventories, can create many cost saving benefits and increase efficiency. Or in special contexts, for instance, as payment at expensive beach clubs, or in the case of a threat to a particular individual, where tracking may have valid reasons.
The issue is about what happens when this technology comes to the foreground. Advertisers can use tags to screen personal and convincing advertorials at the naive consumer. Governments may want to issue cards to all its citizens, in the name of it being a welfare state concerned about giving its citizens privileges, a better quality of life, and better security.
What happens now, definitely is worth imagining. With increasing access to your information, with no past, present or future as life transits into a data collection process, the average person will begin to become a puppet in the hands of the information system. Many activists have been raising issues about protecting privacy, and why it is important for maintaining human freedom of speech and liberty. In reply to angry activism about privacy, Scott McNealy of Sun microsystems said “You have no privacy anyway, get over it”. Could we survive in a transparent world. Would people accept living a transparent life? Will governments and markets comply with this sort of transparency, or will they use it as a gimmick? Take the example of Hasan Elahi, (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-06/ps_transparency ) a professor who in retaliation to being detained and searched at an airport, has begun documenting his life, by listing his geographic position, and images on his web-site. What if everyone agreed to live life publicly?
The RFID revolution is bound to change our way of life. What we need to discuss is how we can continue to preserve our individual privacy, or should we preserve it at all.
