What is Privacy?

In theoretical terms, privacy refers to the state or condition of being free from unauthorized intrusion, surveillance, or interference into one's personal life, activities, or information. It is a fundamental human right and a concept that involves controlling the access and use of one's personal and sensitive data, as well as maintaining a sense of personal space and autonomy. Privacy can be of different types: information, psychological, bodily, territorial, communication, physical, etc. In our current context, we are talking about information privacy primarily, but it also includes communication and psychological privacy.  

In simpler terms, I feel this is more linked with the independence of the individual. The individual should be able to fully control their information and thus their actions across all sections of their lives. We will talk more about this link below.  

Privacy → Surveillance

The opposite extreme of privacy is surveillance. It refers to the monitoring, observation, or tracking of individuals, their activities, or their communications, often without their knowledge or consent. The gradual shift from one extreme to the other happens when we consider the tradeoff between convenience and privacy.

The more information organizations and governments have access to, the more they tend to rely on it. This can create a "feedback loop" where the data they have is used to justify collecting even more data. This cycle can have the effect of shaping the thoughts and actions of individuals, as they are influenced by the information they are provided, and the ways in which it is presented. It can be very much seen in our algorithmically social media, and the extremist political views rising across the world.

On a societal level, widespread surveillance can lead to a culture of conformity and self-censorship, where people feel like they can't express their true thoughts and beliefs. This can stifle innovation and creativity, and ultimately harm society as a whole.              

Its importance for a healthy democracy

Democracy depends on a free and open exchange of ideas and information. In order for this to happen, people need to be able to speak their minds and share their opinions without fear of retribution. If citizens are afraid to express themselves because of a lack of privacy, this stifles the essential dialogue that is necessary for a healthy democracy. It also creates a chilling effect, where people are afraid to dissent or criticize the government, even when doing so is necessary for the good of the country.

Lack of privacy erodes the very foundation of free thought and belief. Without privacy, individuals cannot make up their own minds about ideas. They may feel pressured to conform to the majority opinion, or to refrain from exploring controversial or unpopular ideas. This can lead to a society that is less innovative, less creative, and less tolerant of dissent. Privacy is a must for a free and open society.

Importantly, privacy is fundamentally important for democracy to exist in the long run. An increased form of surveillance leads the government and significantly gives politicians access to control the voices of a nation. In its extreme form, surveillance leads to a totalitarian state where everything is controlled by the government directly or indirectly. It is very important to note how even a small shift traps any state into a loop, where a government with more data would further want more data to control the people so that the government stays in its original form.  

Its importance for a free individual

Surveillance can make individuals conformist and boring, and prevent creativity and individuality from flourishing. Without the freedom to be ourselves and think freely, we will never reach our full potential.

Why the current state is flawed?

Political extremism is one possibility of surveillance that stems from the lack of privacy. Bigger demons that we need to fight in the shorter term are the tech companies who with their massive pile of data can control the way we spend money, we spend our time, and thus partly influence our thoughts.

Political counterargument comes from the assumption that the information that you let the government know can help you and society from a hypothetical threat. Now, the relevance and answer to this debate is in itself a complex point that we would refrain from talking about in this note.

But the surveillance by corporates, or surveillance capitalism as Prof. Shoshana Zuboff says is more related to our convenience. We, humans (or users for these companies) knowingly, and unknowingly let them collect and access the data for the convenience we get out of their services.

The complex question that I try to think about a lot is what is the boundary between this means of convenience and means of surveillance? When would these companies start exploiting the data to completely take control of my very life? And, how would these companies and governments work together in the future?  

I very much believe that the answer to all of this is that it should start with the humans, the government, and then the companies. Where, if we are aware enough of the possible extreme situations, we ask the government to make laws according to that so that companies can limit the collection of data. They themselves would not do it because it is entirely against their current business hypotheses.

In our coming notes, we will talk more about what standard measures are coming up across the world to fight the invasion of privacy.