Tag: edward snowden

Why should we care about our privacy?

Privacy in general terms is the right to be left alone or freedom from interference or intrusion. In terms of the internet, privacy is the right to have some control over how your personal information is collected and used.

More technical innovation gives way to more efficient and advanced technologies. In recent years the information has become the most important component to cultivate this innovation. As many new people are coming on the internet and the amount of information being shared is increased manifold. Every organization or individual is entering the realm of the digital world and data is the entity of this world. Data is also very essential to understand a user or a customer or a client but sometimes there is no limit to the amount of data that an internet corporation is willing to extract. Somewhere there has to be a line that needs to be drawn. In recent years there have been many issues regarding the privacy policy of many tech corporations. Facebook has been in controversy much time. Recently Whatsapp’s privacy policy also raised many questions, then in an ironic move Whatsapp raised the question of privacy by suing the government regarding the new Information technology rules. But this is just the tip of the iceberg and numerous other aspects get overlooked. First, we will need to understand what this privacy means for us as individuals. Only then we can clearly determine the relevance of these rapidly changing developments in this subject.  

“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

It’s not that privacy means that there is something to hide; rather privacy is having things you don’t want to show. For instance, people would not like to post their Bank account online or Bank statements. People would also not like to have a public camera inside their homes. Similarly, there are some things that an individual would not like to share online. Privacy can provide secrecy, but there is more to it. Privacy also provides autonomy and therefore freedom to an individual. Well, there is even more to privacy than the freedom that many people do not realize which is that when we think we’re being watched, we make behavior choices that we believe other people want us to make.  Humans intrinsically like to avoid societal condemnation and perception of whether or not we are in private changes the way we behave. This indicates the benefit that a state can have with surveillance and can lead to a conformist population.

As it is stated by many that data is the oil and for many tech organizations it truly is. We can witness this with the various technological corporations that rely upon user data including Facebook, Google, Amazon etc. But Even Smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi have realized the lucrative benefits of collecting and selling user data. For these companies, our data is money and they earn billions of dollars with this data. Both the private tech giants have clauses in their privacy policy that allows government agencies and third parties to access the data. The data that gets uploaded on the internet never gets deleted and stays there forever. What we have to realize is that even if the information seems futile today, it may have an importance tomorrow. In conclusion, privacy is not a trivial issue and people will have to understand its importance until it’s too late.

References:

How 9/11 changed your life.

45 days after the incident that shook one of the most powerful nations in the world, a bill was hastily passed. The Patriot Act . This changed the world.The patriot act was passed by US president George Bush as an direct response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.It was a effort to tighten U.S. national security, particularly as it related to foreign terrorism. In general, the act included three main provisions:

  •  It expanded abilities of law enforcement to surveil, including by tapping domestic and international phones
  • It eased interagency communication to allow federal agencies to more effectively use all available resources in counterterrorism efforts; and
  • It increased penalties for terrorism crimes and an expanded list of activities which would qualify someone to be charged with terrorism.

 Since it was not possible for the US government to collect all data, they outsourced it. This is where we come in the picture. Many companies emerged in true american entrepreneurial  spirit to meet the government’s demands. For example, Edward Snowden worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that describes itself as a leading provider of management and technology services to “government clients in defense, intelligence, and the civil sectors.” Yet Booz Allen Hamilton is just one of many private contractors.Even right now 70% of the U.S. Intelligence Budget Goes to Private Contractors. This is what created the big data craze. Other  government agencies obviously followed the United States NSA, for example britain’s GCHQ.

As of now we know all the big countries are actively spying on their own citizens. Although this is not confirmed FOR India per se, it may be possible that we are also under surveillance. 

So what does mass surveillance change for you?

Mass surveillance is a threat to human democracy as we know it. Time and again we have seen governments justifying mass surveilllence in the name of stopping terrorism but in reality this did not happen..

“If you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.

As absurd as it sounds, this is a common statement used to justify mass surveillance. It introduces this kind of notion that you are a traitor to your country if you can’t sacrifice your privacy for the greater good. This idea is nonsensical. If you look into evidence of what the NSA used all of its data collection for, it was found that only 1% of it was related to terrorist activities. People not wanting to share literally everything about their life doesn’t make them traitors or selfish. Right to privacy  is a basic human right .

So what is the solution? 

Throw away that little tracking device in our pockets? Go live in a cave? 

No. Humans shouldn’t have to live under false identity to escape surveillance. It is our right to demand stricter laws and have no tolerance towards any kind of surveillance. We shouldn’t let data leaks by big companies slide.It’s time to start a movement. Otherwise, we all are going to have to read George Orwell’s  ‘1984’ as a buyer  guide!