Privacy Discussion
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Anne Arundel Community College *
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Philosophy
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Apr 3, 2024
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Step 2: Answer the following questions:
1.
According to the studies referenced in this video, how do humans react when they know that they are being monitored? What does this mean in terms of privacy?
Humans react with a “severely reduced range of behavior” (7:19, Greenwald). Humans will stop acting in their true nature when understanding they are being watched. In terms of privacy, that means places like social media and the government are spying and in turn, seeing our true selves,
versions of ourselves we would like to keep personal to us and loved ones and not necessarily share with the whole world.
2.
Compare Eric Schmidt & Mark Zuckerberg's statements to their own conduct and to business model; what if any fallacies do you believe exists in either/both of their arguments? How has the transparency of Zuckerberg testifying in congress, aided your analysis here, if at all?
Both Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg claim, “Why complain about privacy if you have nothing to hide?” They say this while they both take measures to ensure their own privacy. Schmidt refuses to have him or his employees talk with online internet magazine CNET, after CNET posted an article full of private information about Schmid, which they obtained using Schmidt’s own business, google. Zuckerberg purchased a house, and then the 4 surrounding houses to ensure he would have a zone of privacy which was a 30-million-dollar purchase proving just how much he valued his privacy. While I couldn’t find a specific fallacy that encapsulates what I said, they both say one thing but act in the opposite way. The closest example I could find was the “tu quoque fallacy”, which is a fallacy of hypocrisy. 3.
Given what has been shared in this video, does privacy seem to be an intrinsic, instrumental and/or core value? Explain your answer.
Privacy is an intrinsic value. It has value in it of itself, and doesn’t rely on anything to give it that
value. In both videos, the speakers both say that we must fight to protect our privacy, not because
we are hiding anything, but because we have the right to a private life, away from the public eye. Privacy is also a core value, it is one of our highest rights, and we should fight to protect that right. We all have a right to privacy, that includes privacy from friends, corporations, and even the government itself.
4.
What, does Greenwald say, are the negative outcomes of not protecting privacy?
Without privacy, we “lose the ability to be free and fulfilled human beings” (6:08, Greenwald). When people feel they are being watched they conform to societal standards in fear of being shamed, which has great negative implications of human individuality.
5.
How, if at all, are computers, panopticons?
In the example of panopticons, the computers are all like the inmates. We type and make decisions on the computers jus t like an inmate would go about their daily lives. However, imagine that tower that was put up to watch the inmates was now invisible and the inmates all walked around freely not understanding they were being watched at all times. That is how computers are watched. Unless people take great care into protecting their privacy, they are being watched, unknowingly.
6.
Which of the following are affected by the loss of privacy? Which three are the most important?
In my opinion, all of these concepts are affected by the loss of privacy, the top three I will focus on however, are trust, control over one’s life, and freedom of thought and speech. Starting with trust, just like in relationships among individuals or groups of people, trust is hard to obtain and maintain. If broken once, it can lead to irreparable damage only fixed through time and truth. Losing privacy, will create great distrust and deception among all people desperately trying to gain bits of privacy back into their lives. If people, companies, or governments could watch over every person, nobody would feel in control of their own lives. We would feel like everything we say and do was carefully monitored.
That is no situation anyone wants to live in. Without our privacy, we are nothing but people living a life completely unlocked from anyone wanting to know our activities.
Control over one’s life leads me to my last point, freedom of thought and speech. As stated in the
videos, lack of privacy makes people conform and less individual. If someone wanted to say or do something but feared public reaction, they would never speak up or act out creating a society of people who feel as though they are not prohibited to freedom of thought and speech. While the
government would claim it is a right, people would simply not delve into that right because of our minds conforming with lack of privacy.
7.
Using the lens of Deontology, Just Consequentialism, and/or Rule Utilitarianism to decide whether and to what extent, the protection of individual privacy rights is ethical. Explain your answer.
I actually have a great example for this question, just last night I watched “The Dark Night” with my girlfriend. There was a scene where Batman asked an accomplice to help him on a mission. Batman used phones to create a surveillance system. His accomplice wanted nothing to do with that kind of power and refused to help him anymore after the mission was complete if that kind of technology was to remain in his possession. The accomplice knew the importance of privacy and refused to take it away from people. I would like to use Deontology as well as virtue ethics to back my points. The protection of privacy rights if fully ethical and should remain as protected as possible. It boils down to the fact
that by rule, we are granted the right to privacy and it should be upheld. It also begins with the individual person, in my example, Batman decided safety was more important than privacy
whereas the accomplice deemed privacy more important than safety. Who was right? It depends on your point of view, in their minds they were each right and were doing what they deemed, the
best decision. In my opinion, you can’t sacrifice privacy for safety. I am in direct disagreement with the government when they claim that peering into our lives provides greater safety. 8.
What, if anything, did you learn about privacy that you did not know or haven't before considered?
I know have a greater sense of understanding on how and why or privacy matter and what makes
it so important. I learned what happened to human when you take this privacy away. Humans are
social creature but also very dependent on the fact that we need alone time as well. Take away this private alone time and we become unstable and fall into a group conformity that is dangerous for any society.
Step 3: Work with your group:
Example 1: Tom walks into the computer lab (when no one else is around) and sees Mary in the lab. Mary is startled to notice Tom gazing upon her.
The privacy affected would be accessibility privacy as well as maybe locational privacy. I feel this is more Accessibility Privacy because Mary is alone in her personal space
in the computer lab when Tom walks in and intrudes on her space. Mary’s Accessibility Privacy has been lost due to Tom walking into the computer lab, but not violated since Tom is in his full right to have access to that lab just as much as Mary.
Example 2: Tom follows Mary home and then peeps through the keyhole of Mary’s apartment door where he sees Mary typing at her computer.
The privacy affected would be Accessibility Privacy. Mary is unaware of Tom’s presence as she is typing on the computer. Mary has lost her privacy because she is under the impression that she
is alone in her personal space
but Tom is watching her
. Mary’s Accessibility Privacy has been
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violated by Tom when he decided to peep through her door as this is unlawful and unwanted behavior.
Example 3: Tom accidentally leaves a personal letter containing private information on a public park bench - letter is picked up and read by Mary who shares this information & damages Tom’s reputation/causes other harm.
The privacy affected would be Informational Privacy. Toms Informational Privacy is lost the second Mary opens and reads the letter
on the bench containing sensitive information to Tom
. Toms Informational Privacy is violated, not because Mary read the information, but because she chose to share that information.
Example 4: You are having a private conversation in your home and a neighbor uses an electronic device to eavesdrop.
My Informational Privacy, in this instance, would have been affected. I am in my own home having a private conversation about personal information
when I am eavesdropped on intentionally by a neighbor
through use of a hearing device. My Informational Privacy would have been lost and violated. The neighbor can hear my conversation which leads to my losing the
Information Privacy, but the means the neighbor uses to listen to the conversation violates my Informational Privacy.
Example 5: DEA uses a thermal imaging camera to fly around farms in an effort to detect large marijuana growing facilities.
The facilities Informational Privacy and Decisional Privacy are affected. They are in their own personal space
when the drone captures their thermal images
. Their Informational Privacy is lost when the drone captures their image and it is violated because the drone should not be capturing their images in the first place.
The facilities Decisional privacy is affected. This is on the assumption that the DEA will charge them for producing marijuana. They will be fined or imprisoned for making marijuana which opposes their ability to decide to produce marijuana
. The Decisional Privacy is lost when the decision is made for them
and violated since the decision to continue producing is removed from the facilities control.
Example 6: Man goes into an old-style phone-booth and closes the door behind him. His intent is
to place illegal gambling bets. Unbeknownst to him, his calls are being monitored by the FBI.
The man’s Locational, Decisional and Informational Privacy are all affected. The man has the assumption that the public phone booth is not monitoring his call
. His Locational Privacy is lost because the FBI is listening to his call
when he thought the phone booth was secure.
Assuming that the FBI won’t let the illegal bet continue, the police are infringing upon the mans Decisional Privacy. The man aims to make a bet
but the FBI take his decision out of his hands
. The man loses his Decisional Privacy when the FBI hears his call. The FBI violate his Decisional
Privacy by unlawfully listening in to a tapped public phone booth that is meant to be private.
The man’s Informational privacy was lost when the police heard and obtained the information
that he wanted to place an illegal bet. His Informational Privacy is violated when the FBI intentionally tapped the phone booth
to hear his conversation.
Example 7: Baltimore accepts a gift from a private corporation that has figured out how to use Cessnas to “fake cell towers” and regularly scoop data from thousands of cellphones. During protests, the company voluntarily gives this information to the police.
This issue would concern Information Privacy. Baltimore is accepting a “gift” from a company that wrongfully spied on people
to collect data. The people’s privacy was lost when the company
recorded their data and their privacy was violated because the company wrongfully obtained their data
without the people’s knowledge.
Example 8: Google is interested in going to China. The Chinese government sets, as a condition of their doing business there, that Google remove any/all anti-Chinese government stories, supported by their link. Google complies. This affects which types of privacy?
This interferes with Googles Decisional Privacy. China mandates that Google must remove anti-
Chinese government stories. Google’s Decisional Privacy is lost when they remove all stories with Anti-Chinese government stories
. Their Decisional privacy is not violated since Google does not have to do business with the Chinese government
and could say no to this request.
Example 9: While working in China, Google learns of a cyberattack within the country that is targeted at dozens of other countries.
China’s Informational Privacy is affected. China’s Informational Privacy is lost when Google finds out about the plan and information
. I am unable to determine from the question how Google obtained the information, so I cannot determine if China’s informational Privacy was violated. However, If Google found out through China using Google’s Web Engine, the privacy of China was not violated.
Example 10: While working in China, Google learns of a cyberattack within the country that is targeted at dozens of other countries. While investigating the attack, Google found that the Gmail
accounts of a number of Chinese human-rights activists had been attacked.
The Information Privacy have both been lost and violated. China forcefully gained access to some of Google’s Gmail accounts
and who knows what else showing the data has been breached
and privacy lost. China violated the privacy of Google and the users when breaching Google’s safety precautions
to gain access to attack the accounts unlawfully.
Step 4: After doing the above included work as a group, personally reflect upon and answer the following questions: I DID NOT WORK AS A GROUP:
1.
Why, in your own words, does individual privacy matter - if at all?
Without privacy, as Greenwald stated, we fall into conformity. Privacy is important for individualism. It is also important because it matters to so many people who sees them and how they are seen. We act differently around spouses, family, friends, and strangers based on our level of comfort with that person or group. Eliminate privacy, and people will become a shell of themselves because now they are always around strangers.
2.
What, if anything, should the government do to reinforce individual privacy?
The government should be stricter about stalking, data mining, and anything that directly goes against a person’s privacy. Often these offenses are not treated with the respect the ought to be. Offenses that go against individual or group privacy should be delt with in a higher regard to the consequences of those offenders.
3.
What, if anything should those working in cybertechnology do to reinforce privacy values?
Those working in cyber technology should pay much closer attention to the importance of privacy and work to make sure they are meticulous when ensuring peoples privacy is protected, because once that private information is leaked, you cannot make it private again.
Works Cited
https://www.ted.com/talks/glenn_greenwald_why_privacy_matters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGjNe1YhMA&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
Module 7, Privacy PowerPoint
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