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"Sharing all destroys personality like a nude beach destroys eroticism." - Becky Blanton

With that thought in mind (and hopefully with not too many accompanying images), we really need to start rethinking our approach to our personal privacy. With the increasing complexity in our social networks and the technologies involved, thinking about our privacy is really hard. This is the reason why only a tiny minority of people actually read the Terms & Conditions when signing up for a service and instead opt for a wait and hope nothing bad happens approach (guilty as charged).

There is definitely a lot more work required in taking charge of our own personal privacy but what is at stake is our freedom to personal development and the accompanying respect we afford to other people around us.

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Privacy: A prerequisite to personal development

I'm quoting Becky Blanton again cause she's raised quite a few important points here.

"Privacy is the ability, right and power to choose our thoughts and feelings and whom to share them with, or not. What we keep private and what we share is what makes us desirable, funny, popular, unpopular, mysterious, charming, charismatic. It is what gives up personality."

The quote above rings true for anyone managing their reputation in the various social circles they are a part of. Withholding information about yourself in different social situations does not show a lack of integrity but rather a more nuanced understanding of the social context. We each maintain social boundaries between different groups in order to advance the goal of the particular group (companionship between friends, love between family/partners, and money/social value when at work). As such, privacy allows us to be comfortable in different social settings while enabling society as a whole to progress.

Consequently, privacy is also about respecting individuals. Within permissible boundaries, privacy enables deviation from the norm without individuals having to worry about being judged by another pair of eyes. This is core to the process of self-development as people are given the freedom to explore their inclinations, irregardless of whether it might be taboo or stigmatized in their community. All of us have likely been in the position where we prefer not to go through the lengthy process of explaining some of our private actions (there is a difference between privacy and secrecy which I will explore in the next article). Hence, freedom of information must also be accompanied with the necessary privacy for there to be a healthy space for individuals to get to know themselves.

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A dangerous fallacy

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"

This is an argument often heard by legislators and those in power to justify the extent of surveillance being carried out. On the surface, this argument is true but it effectively places individual freedoms at the tremendous risk of organisations. First of all, we have to trust that the organisation's goals are in continuous alignment with our best interests. Second, even if the organisations are able to meet our expectations, they will always be at risk of a breach from various internal or external threats.

We do not need to look into the past in order to discover how the lack of privacy resulted in loses in personal freedoms. Take for example China's "social credit" system where each resident will be scored on a government determined non-transparent scoring method which determines their ability to travel, access public infrastructure or even find a partner on dating sites. This has already been rolled out for millions of residents. Irrespective of whether the CCP has been abusing this power, it is very likely every citizen lives with the anxiety that any of their actions can be used against them. It is not the actual breach of privacy that wields the most power over individuals but rather the constant anxiety that they might be singled-out and ostracized. This is the best way to keep people in alignment with the ideals of whoever holds the most power or data.

Critically, China should not be singled out as as a black box with regards to human rights but it is indicative of the future we are heading towards (I highly recommend reading up on the Utah Data Center and this NSA toolkit). In fact, I would argue that the willingness of Chinese residents to trust in the CCP is a major factor why they were able to expand so fast while also having a more optimistic outlook of the future. What it comes down to is the need for proper checks and balances. Without it, our personal freedoms will most likely be at the threat of the organisations (public or private) who have the capability to harvest and make sense of the glut of personal data available online.

The point of this article is not to advocate for complete privacy but as it stands, many consumers have no idea how their personal data is being used. Moreover, ownership of such personal data is also unclear. Residents have settled on the idea that their personal data is the trade-off needed to ensure social security. Similarly, consumers have accepted that selling our personal data is the only way to get personalized services (which is not the case as I argue here). Even for the most cooperative individuals, over-surveillance will induce paranoia as there is a always a possibility that their actions are misconstrued.

" Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say" - Edward Snowden

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Conclusion

Privacy forms the foundation that provides individuals with the room needed for them to discover their personal inclinations and passions. Consequently, privacy also underpins a free and democratic society. As Doherty succinctly puts it:

"Your freedom of expression is threatened by the surveillance of your internet usage"

"Your freedom of association is threatened by the surveillance of your communications online and by phone"

"Your freedom of assembly is threatened by the tracking of your location by your mobile phone"

We are at a very interesting point in the development of privacy rights. On the one hand, we have new technologies enabling extremely detailed digital avatars to be created. On the other, we also have large segments of the population who have never grown up in a surveillance state where sharing of personal data puts an individual at increased risk at the hands of the state.

This is a massively complex issue with no straightforward answers. GDPR was a major step forward in terms of starting privacy discussions but we will need to continue thinking about our relationship with our personal data and the institutions which utilize such data. Only in doing so will we be able to progress towards a more inclusive and democratic future where everyone can be comfortable in their own skin.

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This is the first article in a series of articles looking at our relationship with technology through a privacy perspective. In the next article, I will be looking at the relationship between privacy and power. Links will be updated as it is published.

• With great power comes greater transparency (Part 2)

Thanks for reading and do let me know what your thoughts :)