Portal:Digital Privacy

What is Digital Privacy?

Digital Privacy is a complex issue because the definition of privacy is on-going and relative, not merely situational. For example, privacy in the colonial period of United States history meant something drastically different from what privacy now means in the U.S. Furthermore, privacy has different meanings across boundaries--as European privacy law differs from U.S privacy law, and both of them differ from Canadian privacy law. As technology, specifically the internet, takes off, issues of privacy are critically important. What is now considered a public domain? Does such a thing as a private domain exist anymore? Should companies be allowed to retain data on individual user's searches? Should Google be allowed to take pictures of people's houses? What happens if someone takes a picture of a private citizen and posts it on the internet? What happens if it is a video? Is there a way to enforce a law even if passed?

What are the implications of growing up in a society that always remembers and never forgets? The life of a Digital Native is constantly recorded through digital tracks. What will the future hold? How does this environment impact the ways in which Digital Natives think about privacy? The generation gap between non-natives and natives highlights the blurring definition of privacy. Previously thought private domains are being public--and public places are no longer parochially public but in fact globally public.

These are only some of the questions that need answers in this increasingly digital age. The following description and analysis of digital privacy aims to shed light on these questions and addresses possible solutions.

Elements of Digital Privacy Collection & Retention The life of a Digital Native is constantly being recorded. This information about a Digital Native is retained by and accessible to others. The following are examples of what kind of data is retained, who collects it, and who can view it. Visibility Technology can organize, highlight, and take out of context info that's already available online. For example, the New York Times recently reported that Rudy Giuliani's daughter supported Barack Obama on Facebook.[1] After this was reported her profile was taken down. This incident shows that much of the information on the internet is available for anyone to see. ZabaSearch provides people's full name, birth date and address. Control over reproduction/duplication This is a tricky issue arising from the internet. Previously thought private information is now becoming public. The following are examples of people's picture/video taken without their permission and circulated throughout the internet. While in the first example the victim is not in the wrong, whereas in the other two people genuinely did immoral acts, nevertheless the issue arises: Does a person control a right to reproduction/duplication of their body and actions from the internet? As of yet, no solution has been found that does grant full autonomy to the individual. Read More... General Differences toward Privacy General Differences toward Privacy Read More... United States and EU Privacy Laws Generational Differences toward Privacy Read More...

Problems and Solutions Problems and Solutions - Digital Privacy Read More... Relevant Research and Articles Useful Void: The Art of Forgetting in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing (Mayer-Schoenberger, 2007) How Many Ways You're Being Watched, USA Today (2007) Enjoying Technologies Conveniences But Not Escaping Its Watchful Eyes, Washington Post (2007) Mediating the public/private boundary at home : children’s use of the internet for privacy and participation (S. Livingstone, 2005) Your Identity, Open to All (Wired News, 2005) Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy (Bit Tech, 2006) Strong privacy laws may explain data security in Europe (Intl. Herald Tribune, 2005) Read More... Expert Opinions on Digital Privacy Jonathan Zittrain | Jisuk Woo | Avner Levin and Mary Jo Nicholson | Wendy Seltzer | Richards and Solove | Alessandro Acquisti | Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger