I don’t agree with statement, though there are many proponents to abolishing privacy online. Unfortunately, over the years we have been trained to give personal information in order to use services online and this is based on the principle that our data has no value and if we have nothing to hide we should be ok to share data online. This is a fallacy.
Having privacy is essential to us as humans because it gives us a judgment free space where we can be ourselves without worrying about what others might think. This allows us to explore unpopular ideas without worry or fear. Plus it is not just people who have unpopular ideas that need privacy. There is a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t want to share with everyone even if it’s nothing illegal or unpopular such as details about my health or personal finances. Privacy doesn’t mean that we don’t want to share information, it just means that I get to choose who has access to data about me.
In certain scenarios privacy helps protect us physically from stalkers or people who mean us harm, think fanatic fans or people fleeing an abusive relationship. Such people would not want their physical location broadcast to the world. There was a case a few months ago where a fan used a photo published by a star to locate her apartment and assaulted her at her apartment. This was a breach of privacy of the star and caused major distress to her. Now imagine if we could immediately find where anyone in the world is located at a given time, this will allow us to determine so much other data about that person such as their health information (if they are visiting a cardiac doctor every week, there is a high probability they are suffering from a hear problem). A few years ago Uber analyzed data from the rides people were taking using it’s service and used that to figure out who was having an affair with whom based on the rides they took and the location they were dropped. It was quite a scandal when it came out and now imagine someone taking this information and blackmailing people.
With the amount of information that we are giving to websites and companies both voluntarily and involuntarily privacy is becoming harder to maintain but that doesn’t mean that we give up and let companies do whatever they want with our data. If we do that then be prepared to have every aspect of your life dissected and analyzed for profit.
Too many people state that they have nothing to hide and have no problems with having their information public. I challenge them to stay in a house completely made of glass (including the bathrooms) and have a bot that publishes all emails/messages/transcripts from their calls publicly. I can bet there won’t be any takers. as everyone has something they wouldn’t want to be public knowledge.
– Suramya