Privacy, fundamental rights, and freedom
Privacy had always been a fascinating concept. It is acknowledged world over, but remains a puzzle on most grounds. Its agathokakological, a fine blend of good and bad. Its moral significance is still debatable. It powers deceit, encourages hypocrisy, but also protects rights of individuals.
Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Historically, privacy has been a bumbling concept. The most vulnerable one. Governments used it to façade trillions of dollars on mysterious endeavors. Criminals masqueraded frauds and deeds behind the walls of privacy. Its a freedom that had to be earned with a lot of resistance and struggle.
Man kind has seen thousands of such combats. A legal battle in the history of United States, United States v. Causby, which elaborates the user’s rights to light, air, view, and safe and peaceful occupation. The story behind this case was, a chicken farmer, Causby sued the US government for flying planes over his farms. His farm was located less than a mile away from an airstrip. The low flying aircrafts troubled with the sensations to his chickens. His business got shut as he lost most of his live stock. Under common law, a person who owns the soil also owns the space indefinitely upward. The US Defense armed their case suggesting Air Commerce Act in which the US government claimed to ‘possess’ all airspace. The courts landed judgement in Causby’s favour, supporting the notion, a property owner has the right to prohibit public use of the air space above the his land. Thus privacy in the air!
Governments challenge this fundamental right at every stance, on the grounds of national security or just a political strategy. The NSA cases, Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and a lot of other buzz we hear about governments intervening into our lives. Multiple surveillance programs have already been intruding through our personal space.
Internet has been hailed as a medium of democracy, liberating millions or even billions globally. It helps us gain the wealth of knowledge, experience through the eyes of other people, talk through the language of billions others, and above all, feel free.
Marketers intrude this privacy every day to sell their products. Targeting is all about selling the perfect product to the matched customers. Engaging prospects with what they are thinking or looking for basis their age, race, gender, occupation and so on. As the technology is getting better integrated with our lives, we are risking our privacy even more. Some of the key intrusions due to technology are storage of our personal information, location tracking, activity tracking, call logging.
As we are more connected to the world, we are paying a steep price for the networking. Privacy is what we are losing with every click online. In the Ted discussion below, Gary Kovacs unravels online trackers hovering us in detail.
Freedom of browsing!
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. — John F. Kennedy
The web is battling against various concepts invading privacy. Net neutrality, censorship, personal data concerns, this had been a bumpy ride so far. Repealing of the FCC ruling on data privacy had been another blow this year. Every click you make, every website you browse, is all tracked and recorded and used as an when required by the network operators.
When the efforts go in vain
Things gained through unjust fraud are never secure. — Sophocles
Globally, countries have acknowledged privacy as the fundamental right of the citizens. Numerous laws have been passed, in various languages. Every government focused on assuring the people of their civic rights. There are still disclosures on platforms about the data being logged under the hood of bureaucracy .
If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion. — William J. Brennan
Who cares for privacy?
A ted talk, aptly titled “Why Privacy Matters” talks about the concern of privacy in individuals. Human being has always craved for freedom. The only reason why so many battles were fought, either to protect or to extort one’s privacy. Privacy is not only a concern of people who are performing a devious act. It also concerns individuals who prefer to act positive and keep a mum.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel!
Not everything is going bad on the privacy front. Technologies like TOR, Freenet,I2P allows users to browse the web by bouncing our IPs, which are usually used to track us, through the network of peers. Anonymous currencies help in protecting ones information while transferring money through wallets. Bitcoin, ethereum, to count a few.
To conclude, technology made our lives way amazing, but privacy issues bug the experience. Counter technologies can help us protect ourselves online, but the legal system still needs to be framed or fixed to an extent that we can feel protected.
