Privacy and anonymity and information network technologies
Privacy and anonymity and information network technologiesWe might assume that nothing new could be said about the issue of
privacy behond the basic notion that it is something secluded from the
inclusion of others, a virtue and right that every citizen of a
democratic society might possess. However, if that were actually the
case then we would not see our culture involved in debates about the
issues regarding privacy and anonymity as they relate to new information
technologies.
The primary reason for such concerns is that information has become a
commodity in what we have come to know as the 'information age'. With
the advent of new technologies; particularly that of the Internet this
information can be sold and exchanged quite easily. Before the use of
widespread computer technologies, our personal information had no real
value beyond its immediate transaction. When data and information was
provided by a citizen or consumer it had no secondary reuse. However,
due to advances in technology and data retrieval systems and
transactions, information has been given commercial value, especially
with regards to the issue of who owns and controls this information.
The information age has been a period that has allowed rights to privacy
to beocme seriously jeopardized by new information technologies.
Richard A. Spinello, has defined two distinct phases to the systematic
erosion of information privacy. The first he calls the 'data base
phase'. The emergence of sophisticatd data base technology in the early
eighties made it possible to store and retrieve large amounts of
information efficiently and economically. During this time,
considerable amounts of personal data were transfered to computerized
records, which have been stored on record. Another implicator in the
invasion of privacy has been what is described as a 'network phase', in
which many individuals and organizations are relying heavily on digital
networks such as the Internet to help conduct their personal business.
The Internet specifically has facilitated the integration of different
databases and allowed data to become completely mobile, and easily
retreived by anyone. The use of such networks has expanded the
capability of elctronically pinpointing an individual or checking up of
personal backgrounds by following electronic trails of information.
There has become a realm where immediate on-line personal data is
available to anyone with the simplest personal computer system. The
implications on idividual privacy are great; we hve become completely
transparent to anyone who wants to take a little time to investigate
one's background. What becomes a more important question is what types
of information can be deemed as public and private, and as this
information is stored who may legally claim access to it.
It has been consistenly maintained by members of our soicety that a
right to privacy an anonymity is a necessity, a basic natural right,
however in the information age, privacy is not a simple concept that can
be easily defined. Still, with respect to a general definition of
privacy the basic right to be 'left alone' is rather broad. Of most
conern in our current culture is the need to define and explore what is
deemed as 'information privacy' with direct connections to technological
advances. For Spinello, this is simply defined as "the right to exert
conrol over the fate of one's personal information (name, address,
telephone number, financial background etc.), and the right to limit the
accessibility of information known about oneself". In the context of
information technologies and specificallly the Internet; accessiblity
and use of such technologies can violate and inhibit our personal
privacy. Our private information may be violated because our personal
data may be acquired by individual without permission; when this occurs
according to Spinello, such a person may use it to excercise control
over a person's activities. For example; companies with detailed
knowledge of an individual's purchasing habits may subject them to
manipulative promotions, while a prospective employer may gather
sensitive information about a future employee's medical histories,
financial records, etc.
As a result of this there becomes a new found concern; a developing
relationship between privacy and freedom in the new information age. It
becomes difficult to exercise guaranteed personal liberties when our
actions are on display and our intimate information can be accessed in
the public domain, furthermore they can become accessed without our
knowledge or consent. If our right to privacy continues to decrease in
the wake of technology's continual progress so too will our basic
freedoms. Such concerns provide the basic notions behind already
legislated laws governing individual rights to privacy, however there
are not many specific laws protecting privacy and regultions that offer
protection of privacy that can be adequately applied to technological
advances.
Spinello argues that there has been a general failure on behalf of
North American policy makers to fashion sufficient protections for
privacy rights in the wake of technology's expanding capablitites. He
asserts that privacy has been consistently eclipsed by other values such
as economic efficency and crime control as well as technological
progress. This becomes the central argument when discussing privacy,
anonymity and technolgoy in the wake of an emerging invasion of personal
rights and freedoms. Legislative policies have not focused on
indivduals and their previously defined rights, and has not separated
social intersts and technologies that can serve to both provide
productive functions in all societal institutions but also serve to
invade personal freedoms. This returns to Spinello's argument that the
issue of privacy and technology gets continually redefined, as the idea
of privacy becomes subordinate to other worthy ideas such as economic
efficency, crime control, and governement productivity as a collective
good for all citizens.
What we have become to witness at the level of public opinion is a
desire for privacy and also maximum data and information as it deals
with new technolgoy. It seems that such digital developments have been
the price of advanced sytems of information and policy makers have used
its effeciencies to monitor and link institutions involved in data
collection. Privacy, is a collective value which we all share, as well
all citizens have similar levels of privacy in the eyes of government
institutions. We provide personal data consistently, and
legislative-information based relationships have always existed, they
are voluntary but also necessary for the well being of individuals and
the well being of society itself. However, our personal information as
it is embedded in network information systems is easily available; they
must be controlled at an institutional level as pesonal data is an
individual notion but becomes a social concern when paired with new
technolgies.
Although privacy is comparable to many social goods such as
technological advancement, it is much more complicated, as it is applied
with the diverse and complex uses of our personal data. This complexity
makes if difficult to acheive a sustainable uniform level of privacy for
all. Protection of our personal privacy on the Internet is an intricate
matter as it is necessary for social goods, but its invasion can affect
so many areas of our lives. Most citizens understand the assumption
that to participate in our social, economic and technological systems
they must relinquish some of their personal data, and they are willing
to acknowledge that many commercial and government organizations have a
legitimate need for that data, what is obviously objected to however, is
the secondary uses of that data without permission as it is residing
somewhere in cyberspace beyond their control. Furthermore,
participation in such technologies by their very function poses a
vulnerable situation for its users. As Spinello argues, "these misuses
of information should not be a necessary cost of participating in
society, and pariticpating in technologies that by their very nature
have implications on their privacy".
In an economy that is now dependent on information dominated by
powerful corporate and government interests the value of privacy must
become a priority and be given the respect it deserves. The debate
about privacy and its focus on its significance as a public value as it
is compromised for the sake of technological value should be of utmost
importance as the need to legislate policies on network systems such as
the Internet continues. More importantly as information is continually
transmitted and transferred on such systems, most organizations that
possess such information regard it as their own private property after
it is collected. The key question that is again raised is who is given
rights to property in personal data, especially how it is transferred
and stored in new technological networks Just like other forms of
property, we see how information can have monetary value, as well as how
it can be produced, upgraded, shared and transferred to others. When we
see that personal data has an appreciable value and should be classified
as property, then it beocmes clear that there exists a powerful link
between the issues of property and privacy and how this should be
disseminated on networks such as the Internet.
For Spinello, a uniform level of privacy must be established, and the
common value of privacy must be balanced with other other social
objectives and how they relate to technological advances. Since privacy
is a common and public value it should be defined as the right of
society to require institutions and individuals connected to network
systems to use information in a manner that is more respectful of the
shared intersts in that information. Technology at this stage must be
able to distinguish between social interests and personal anonymity for
citizens, corporate needs versus personal identity, and corporate
mergers versus group privacy.
Privacy, of maximum concern with the infusion of high technology bonded
by network systems will sink back to being a debated and contested
issue, and recapture the thoughts and principles of basic ethics and
constitutional law as it had when it became a virtue in the first
place. Information technology is another classic case of advances and
breakthroughs that can be used for constructive or destructive
purposes. It is the terribly slow pace of policy makers and the
amazingly fast pace of information technology in American society that
has caused the greatest tensions and deserves the closest scrutiny.
REFERENCES
Spinello, Richard A. (1998). Privacy Rights In The Information Economy.
Business Ethics Quarterly.