Privacy vs. Technology

Privacy vs. Technology

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

Would you agree giving up your privacy in exchange for a more comfortable life? Judging by the way our society looks today, it seems the answer is yes. The American National Security Agency (NSA) is authorized to spy on the conversations of American citizens, Big Data is providing endless information about us to different companies and many more examples can provide further evidence. But actually, it is today that we can enjoy a higher level of privacy than ever before.

According to Roger Berkowitz, the academic director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities, there are many aspects in our lives designed to distance us from the public sphere. A primary example would be cars, as society’s primary transportation system. On the other hand there is the Internet of Things (IoT) trend that shows our willingness to give up privacy for a little extra comfort. Sure, a fridge that can detect when out milk carton is empty and order a new one is comfortable – but is that not an invasion of privacy?

We use technology to better ourselves, to teach ourselves, to improve what we do but at any moment we could lose another layer of privacy in our lives. Technology is certainly a unique challenge in the modern age, but it is not the only reason for the phenomenon, rather another central reason is that privacy is considered at times dangerous, undemocratic or uncomfortable. The mantra of “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to lose” is often applied to justify giving up privacy. Only terrorists or pedophiles would have something to keep secret, some argue, but in reality, we all have something to hide, and therefore we all have something to lose, Berkowitz says.

Not everyone views privacy as being anti-democratic, but for those who do, they point to the necessity of constantly monitoring public figures. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server controversy is an example of backlash when it is perceived that a government official attempted to keep communications on lockdown. Ultimately, Berkowitz said, everyone says things that they’d rather not have made public.

Perhaps it is time that our society will reconsider the value of privacy and try to understand why we are so easily ready to give it up – even if it is information that seems of no significance.

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