The Growing Privacy Problem

1510 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of technology on privacy

It is not easy to define privacy because the word's meaning may differ from one person to another. However, the common definition is that privacy is the act of being free from any form of surveillance, or refers to a state of being in seclusion or a private place free from unauthorized or unlawful intrusions from others. In today’s ever advancing society, it seems that this definition may soon need to be revised. Unfortunately as we continue to embrace technology along with our growing need for stronger security, we are finding ourselves at the mercy of privacy invasion. This is not something that anyone is happy about. No one would openly agree to have their privacy invaded as long as they get better security in exchange. I would assume that all of us who opt for keeping our privacy in-tact while also obtaining better security. In this light, as privacy is becoming more of an exception rather than a norm, we should make it our duty to demand from authorities to do more in regards of protecting our basic rights to privacy.
In the United States today, the privacy protection is facilitated by the state, not federal law, and these laws seems to vary from state to state. Whatever the laws in Pennsylvania protect, for example, may not be protected in the same way in the state of California. However, I think we will agree that our privacy should not matter less or more because we reside in different places. According to the United States Supreme Court, the constitution protects the expectation of privacy to the point it deems reasonable. Therefore, it is reasonable for one to expect what is done in the confines of the home to remain private? Isn’t it reasonable to expect our phone conversations, our online browsing, and our shopping t...

... middle of paper ...

...dn’t democracy translate to equal treatment? If the Government has access to citizens’ private information, shouldn’t the citizens in turn have access to Government secrets? Sadly, democracy is a means to rule not equality.

Works Cited

Crosman, Penny. "Is Online Privacy Possible?" Bank Technology News Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Nov. 2013
"Electronic Privacy." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 29 Dec. 2006. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
Morozov, Evgeny. "The Real Privacy Problem." MIT Technology Review 116.6. (2013): 33-44. Web. 09 Nov. 2013
SAS. "SAS Study Reveals That Despite Privacy Concerns, Consumers Want to Be
Understood." Business Wire (English) 23 Web. 09 Nov. 2013.
"Internet Advertising." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 26 Mar. 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2013

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of The NSA

    2057 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most sacred ideas that we hold dear is our right to privacy. It a simple correlation between being free and doing what we want, legally speaking, in our own homes and lives. Unfortunately, our lives seem to become less...

    Read More

  • Idea Of Privacy

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don’t put it on the internet, although I guess some people would! “Don Tapscott can see the future coming ... and works to identify the new concepts we need to understand in a world transformed by the Internet.” (“Don Tapscott” Ted Conferences LLC) Tapscott is an Adjunct Professor of Management at the Rotman School of Management and the Inaugural Fellow at the Martin Prosperity Institute. In 2013, Tapscott was appointed Chancellor of Trent University. He has written extensively on the topic of information security in the digital age over the past fifteen years. In his essay entitled, “Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?”(Tapscott p.117). Tapscott considers a new, emerging theory

    Read More

  • The Government is Wiretapping You

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    Privacy (Pri-va-cy) n.1.the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people. Americans fear that technological progress will destroy the concept of privy. The first known use of wiretap was in 1948. It’s no secret that the government watches individuals on a daily bases. According to the constitution, the Fourth Amendment serves to protect the people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Unreasonable is the word that tips the balance On one side is the intrusion on individuals’ Fourth Amendment rights and the other side is legitimate government interests, such as public safety. What we consider reasonable by law, the government might not think so. The word ‘privacy’ seems to be non-existent today in the 21st century; the use and advances of technology have deprived us of our privacy and given the government the authority to wiretap and or intervene in our lives. Our natural rights we’ve strived for since the foundation of this nation are being slashed down left to right when we let the government do as they wish. The government should not be given the authority to intervene without a reasonable cause and or consent of the individual

    Read More

  • Defending Privacy of Personal Information

    3909 Words  | 8 Pages

    3. Herman T. Tavani, "Privacy Online," Computers and Society, Vol. 29, No. 4, 1999, pp. 11-19.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Government Invasion Of Privacy

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    The government is doing the total opposite of this. In fact, the government is invading everyone 's privacy which means that they are intruding into the personal lives of US citizens without a reason to. This should give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to sue the government for damages against the person or entity that has been intruded. Privacy is essential to giving a person the time to reflect on events that have transpired personally, religiously, and politically. It is as essential as sleep; it helps to provide the time to formulate opinions and decisions on all minor and major things in a person 's life.

    Read More

  • Privacy In Demand

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like most countries and especially the United States their inhabitants enjoy a certain level of privacy. People don’t generally want intimate information to be accessible to the public eye. In fact many people go to great lengths to hide everything about themselves. What exactly is the definition of privacy? Well, privacy is the expectation that confidential personal information disclosed in a private place will not be disclosed to third parties, when that disclosure would cause either embarassment or emotional distress to a person of reasonable sensitivities. This information includes facts, images (ex: photographs and videotapes), and disparaging opinions. When over zealous law enforcement officials demand access to telephone conversations, e-mail or other electronic communication they are violating the unwritten code of privacy. When organizations from the private sector purchase intimate information about medical records either for commercial purposes, or to challenge your insurance eligibility or employment suitability. Unfortunatly this is a common practice in the United States and it is wrong.

    Read More

  • The Challenges Of Privacy Issues

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Privacy challenges. Privacy is a circumstance of restricted right of entry to an information regarding an individual (Knoppers, 2015). Brothers and Rothstein (2015) noted numerous other kinds of privacy, comprising physical, decisional, proprietary and relational or associational privacy. This study emphasizes on informational health privacy. When it comes to privacy issues the crucial question to explore is; how can leadership balance the right of privacy with the advantageous requirement for clinical data-access in EHR? The Privacy Act of 1974 is the US law that represents national standards to protect the private health information of individuals by mandating appropriate safeguards and limitations on the right to use and release of (PHI)

    Read More

  • What is Privacy?

    1879 Words  | 4 Pages

    Privacy is an incredibly elusive concept, partly because no one can agree on what constitutes an invasion of privacy. One famous publication in the 1890 edition of the Harvard Law Review defines privacy as “...the right to be let alone” (Warren). While this suffices for a cursory look at the definition of privacy, a closer look reveals that it is still very vague (the latter portion of the journal reiterates this). Specifically, it does not address breach of privacy, a concept that is still disagreed upon today. There are many different interpretations as to what constitutes an invasion of privacy.

    Read More

  • Individual Privacy versus National Security

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    The word “privacy” did not grow up with us throughout history, as it was already a cultural concept by our founding fathers. This term was later solidified in the nineteenth century, when the term “privacy” became a legal lexicon as Louis Brandeis (1890), former Supreme Court justice, wrote in a law review article, that, “privacy was the right to be let alone.” As previously mentioned in the introduction, the Supreme Court is the final authority on all issues between Privacy and Security. We started with the concept of our fore fathers that privacy was an agreed upon concept that became written into our legal vernacular. It is being proven that government access to individual information can intimidate the privacy that is at the very center of the association between the government and the population. The moral in...

    Read More

  • Privacy vs. Security

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    10 Sep. 2013 Solove, Daniel J. “5 Myths about Privacy” Washington Post: B3. Jun 16 2013. SIRS. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Cell Phone Tracking

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    LeRoux, Yves. "Privacy concerns in the digital world." 03 Oct 2013. Computer Weekly. 24 April 2014 .

    Read More

  • Government Surveillance Pros And Cons

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    Privacy is a right granted to all American citizens in the Fourth Amendment which states “people have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and lives against unreasonable search and seizures”. Although our founding fathers could have never predicted the technological advancements we have achieved today, it would be logical to assume that a person's internet and phone data would be considered their effects. This would then make actions such as secretive government surveillance illegal because the surveillance is done so without probable cause and would be considered unreasonable search or seizure. Therefore, access to a citizen’s private information should only be provided using probable cause with the knowledge and consent of those who are being investigated.

    Read More

  • How Technology Impacts Our Privacy

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Powell, Robert. "Four Ways Technology Invades Your Privacy." Lovemoney.com. N.p., 5 Oct. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Privacy Vs Security Essay

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    Along with Privacy and security comes the issue of terrorism, Constitutional rights, and Prisoners of War (POW). The privacy vs security debate has two sides to it. Many think that it has influenced governmental interaction with citizens. Sometimes the law focuses on the wrong interests. Just as security cameras are made for thief’s, there come along violations within a person’s workspace or personal life. Privacy emerged early on including Jewish and Roman laws safeguarding against surveillance. Once populations began to grow citizens around the world started filing complaints about noise and unlawful search and seizures. Security and Privacy become an internationally growing issue that affected the world. Security is known as a sort of Independence from danger. Privacy is a freedom from the Undesirable. “He noticed that the needle on his gas gauge was getting low and decides to pull over. As he walks into the gas station he pays for the gas with his credit card, steals a pack of cigarettes and a newspaper without the clerk knowing. B Horton proceeds out the doors and recognizes a security camera as he walks to his car. Later he is contacted and tried for theft. Some believe the camera was an invasion of his privacy but others say that Horton took from society” Webster 21) In America this was and still is a serious issue. The founders saw it coming and implanted laws against home invasions based on national security or to protect others. The fourth amendment in the Bill of Rights is one plan of action that the founding fathers implemented into the United States Constitution to give people a sense of privacy from law enforcement. Also the Fifth Amendment placed a specific procedure on how police go about arresting an individual. ...

    Read More

  • The Right to Privacy

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gonchar, Michael. “What Is More Important: Our Privacy or National Security?” New York Times. New York Times, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

More about The Growing Privacy Problem

Open Document