Privacy is something that we treasure. I have never heard of anyone who doesn’t long for some sort of privacy. The issue of privacy has been discussed since Edward Snowden, a former contractor at the National Security Agency, exposed internet and phone surveillance by U.S. intelligence. It reminds me of the concept of Big Brother from George Orwell’s famous novel 1984. No one likes to have their actions monitored every second of every day. Yet at the same time, privacy isn’t a new issue it’s been around for centuries. England during the time of William Shakespeare was filled with concerns of privacy as the government utilized surveillance of private life.
Privacy in America was a concern in the antebellum period. People feared surveillance from the church. Also printing presses were used as a means of reporting on other people’s lives. There was also fear of surveillance from the U.S. Post Office. Benjamin Franklin said that if the government is going to regulate the post office then it would have to keep it private. Privacy became an issue again during the 1880s, when technologies such as the handheld camera and the telephone were emerging. There was paranoia over someone taking a person’s picture without him/her knowing it and over one’s voice being transmitted beyond his/her homes. There was also fear that Western Union collected all sorts of intimate personal information about people. There was also no law that gave a right to see the information or to delete it later on.
Another example of government intrusion of privacy was in the beginning of the 20th century. People feared that the telephone would be used for wiretapping, or someone listening into a person’s conversation over the phone. Then there was the concern of the FBI and its reputation for collecting all sorts of information which for the first time ever kept databases on people. Then there was the development of New Deal programs such as Social Security, public assistance programs, educational loans and grants in which the government would collect lots of information of people. Computers then came along to collect information of people.
Now with the prominence of social media, people are questioning whether it’s necessary to be involved with social media. For example, someone applies for a job and the employer asks the prospective employee if he/she can check their Facebook page. If the prospective employee says he/she doesn’t have one, the employer may ask them why that’s the case. There is a dire need for meaningful rules to level the playing fields so that the values to which we subscribe as cultures and communities can continue to be maintained. However, the problem is that technology changes a lot faster than major legislation can get passed or can get to the courts .
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-22837100
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/the-privacy-vs-security-battle-reignited/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/politics/cybersecurity-house-senate-omnibus/
asalomon2013 