Privacy
is an individual’s ability to protect and have control of his/her self’s
presence and or provide limited access of personal information to anyone. Privacy
has always been considered an essential need for all human beings which has
resulted in it being a right to all global citizens under the 1948 United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is not the right to have your
own space or environment so as to commit crimes or be involved in illicit
activities while in isolation, but the right to have control of information
that no one has access to. Privacy has
increasingly become a great need over the years but its value has also been on
the decline due to the advancement of technology.
More
than two decades ago, it was almost impossible to access anybody’s information
like health records, banking details, telephone number, current location, job
occupation etc. These days almost everything is done on the internet, hence the
statements “contact us through our website” or “just send me your home address
via email”. Hardcopies are rarely used as we are moving more and more into the
digital world where almost all information is accessed online. Even while
conducting this research, I managed to access 80% of my source information
through an online library unlike back in the 90’s where one had to physically
go to the library and get the hardcopy text book.
Privacy
has become a major threat because of the use of the internet in our daily lives.
Having access to someone’s Internet Protocol (IP) address may give you
information about his/her location, information that is being communicated via
emails and text messages as well as the people he/she will be communicating
with. “For decades, people have warned that pervasive databanks and
surveillance technology are leading inevitably to the death of privacy and
democracy”, Garfinkel. In almost all
developed countries it has become difficult to resort oneself from using the
internet.
The
Government has been one of the main violators of citizen’s privacy but at the
same time it is the only system that could put in laws which would protect
people or provide them the right to their own privacy.
Laws
like the 4th Amendment passed by the American Congress on 28
September 1789 which state that
"The Fourth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution provides, the right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
The
main goal of this amendment is to thoroughly protect people’s right to privacy
as well as freedom from government. It is quite astonishing that the people who
created the law actually have no right to breach it what-so-ever.
Some
people do not really understand the whole meaning of privacy and what
encompasses it. Most citizens regard privacy as just having the right not to be
intruded in their home environment. Firstly we need to understand the history
of privacy, under what circumstance did it obtain a unique definition(s) in
order to know the consequences it brings out to all individuals globally. Solove
mentions that “Privacy is not one thing, but a cluster of many distinct yet
related things.” It involves quite a lot of conceptions linked to one another
which also have their own problems. What is privacy and why do we even need to
protect it to the point of having laws being passed concerning it? Scholars
like Warren and Brandeis came up with a conclusion that privacy is the right to
be left alone. In this context they try to imply an individual’s privilege to
plan his/her own affairs without the distraction of anybody.
The
consequence of this illustration may turn out to be that, someone given all
that privacy may actually be doing something privately that would be a threat
to a country’s national security. The right to be left alone correlates with
Solove’s other conception of privacy which is; having limited access to the
self. There are both negative and positive outcomes in this conception. Some
people prefer having limited access to themselves in order to achieve something
productive at school or work but it may turn out bad if that limited access is
used for the wrong purposes. Secrecy,
another conception, is the concealment of information and this is valuable to
some individuals because most information which has a great need to be concealed
may be deemed harmful to the owner if it is accessed by someone else.
Medical
privacy is the first and major privacy issue that concerns quite a lot of people,
if not all. No one would like to receive a phone call or an email from an
unknown recipient informing them that their medical results are out and they may
have been diagnosed with cancer or could be infected with a deadly virus.
Medical information is considered to be private and completely confidential to
the extent that it should only be shared between the medical practitioner, his
assistances, research personnel and the patient.
Medical
practitioners are entitled to take an oath that they will conduct their duties to
treat a patient without revealing the patient’s medical status: which is, the
disease that the doctor or nurse is treating the patient with and or the
results of the treatment or its diagnosis. However there are instances that
medical privacy is violated of or heavily abused for both negative and positive
purposes. The information could be used for purposes such as research to ensure
public health which is said to be of a good cause to the patient as well as for
future generations.
Internet
and technology have become the major platform of conducting businesses and
communications. This has also resulted in public and private health
institutions to use computer based data storage systems which in a way makes it
even more convenient in locating one million or more documents, reports and
information. It has paved way for better public safety, improving living and
health conditions for all as well as making research programs easier and more
efficient. However, the problem is that, once information is stored online, it
can also be easily hacked and connected or networked with other storage systems
or may be syphoned illegally by any sophisticated technology expert like Edward
Snowden. Etzioni clarified that “once online, health information can be linked
with other, non-health data sets –such as an individual’s credit report to
create encompassing personal dossiers.”
The
only means an individual’s medical records can be accessed without the owner’s
approval is when that owner is suspected of withholding information that may be
linked to a crime. In the United States of America, the FBI may request to seek
or examine private records only if they provide evidence to the magistrate that
there is reasonable suspicion that the owner of the records may have committed
a crime. Law enforcement officers in U.S.A may gain access without a warrant to
a person’s medical records who would have been caught, for example, dealing in
drugs.
Another
way in which there would be a violation of a person’s medical documents is when
investigators seek to find out about a deceased persons medical history. Andreas
Lubitz, a German pilot who crashed a passenger’s plane in the French Alps was
believed to have been suffering from a mental illness. Medical history is vital
to be provided to employers of people who hold such occupations because it puts
a lot of people’s lives at risk. The company he was working for, German-Wings,
requires all their employees to provide medical reports if they may be having a
medical condition that would affect flying passenger planes. His doctors knew
about his condition as there were doctors’ notes which were later found in his
house by investigators after the crash. The main point of this issue is that
even if the doctors knew about his condition, under the doctor’s oath of
medical practice, he could not have informed Andreas’s employer about his
condition because he is not allowed to reveal a patients information to anyone
besides his patient.
Our
commitment to privacy may reach a point whereby it endangers public safety. The
German plane killed 150 people including the pilot Andreas Lubitz. I however
think that there should be medical laws that clearly state that if an
individual has a medical condition that deems unsuitable for his/her
occupation, the medical practitioner who is responsible for the patient’s
treatment, should inform officials like the employer just like in the German
plane crash case.
Quite
similar to the pilot’s rights in protecting privacy of people’s medical
information, is the Apple Corporations’ court case when they were battling the
American government to decrypt an iPhone 5 that was being used by an American
citizen to commit terrorist attacks in San Bernadino, California. Protecting
people’s privacy is very important but there comes a point where by it would be
on the expense of public safety and citizen’s lives. Fourteen people lost their
lives and 22 were injured as a result of the attack. Apple Corporation still
supports its policy of protecting their customer’s privacy by stating that they
do not have the system to decrypt or find a means of gaining access to the
phone’s data. I seriously believe that Apple should have considered the pain of
the victim’s families. If one of the victims was Tim Cook’s close relative, I
do not think that he would have stood still with the same stance he had towards
the case.
Another
major issue of concern nowadays is the consumer’s privacy in terms of
disclosing their information to whoever or wherever they would be purchasing
products or services from. This involves buying products or services using the
credit card billing system. When one opens a bank account, he/she is obliged to
provide the bank his/her personal information like nationality, job occupation,
home and or work address. In so doing, you will literally be disclosing some of
your information which you intend not to provide to some people. The bank
requires this information for security purposes in case of an incident where someone
tries to steal money from your account.
The
problem or the disclosure of an individual’s information to anyone comes when
he/she now intends to purchase some goods using the credit card system.
Recently I was planning to visit Venice, Italy, so I found it daunting to go
physically to the railway station to purchase a train ticket. Instead, I
resorted to buying the tickets online. Although it would be cheaper or I may be
offered tremendous discount deals, it puts me at risk because I would provide
almost all my personal details: credit card number, home or work address, as
well as the destination I am travelling to. If there is a terrorist on the
police’s wanted list who has a similar name as mine, I would be suspected of
being involved in the terrorist activity.
It will be easy for the law enforcement or department or the National
Security Agency to track me down. In such a case, the federal government agencies
would probably not obtain a warrant since it is a “terrorism” case, therefore
would intrude my territory and violate my privacy.
Internet
users who make online transactions, have raised questions on how safe and
secure their personal data is. “From a public policy perspective,
consumers are assumed to have certain rights to privacy and security of their
information when conducting online transactions” Miyazaki. Service providers
are heavily persuaded to secure their customers information in order for them
to breed chains of loyal consumers. Before any online user makes a purchase,
most online retailers have to give the customer some written guarantee either
with labelled secure servers or links to security policies which show that his/her banking
details are secure and cannot be viewed by any third party. Most consumers
would like to purchase something online but end up declining due to some
untrustworthy transaction websites that do not give enough evidence or provide
concerns about their customer’s finances.
Consumers
should have legitimate control over their personal information, which is one of
Solove’s six conceptions of privacy. Privacy is not only absence of us or some
material from people but it is the control we bear of our information to other
people. Everyone should be given the right to have control over his/her
material or information which he/she desires not to share with anyone. Solove
also stated that
“President Bill Clinton’s Information
Infrastructure Task Force defined privacy as an individual’s claim to control
the terms under which personal information-information identifiable to the
individual is acquired, disclosed and used”.
He
further supports the Supreme Court’s rule that privacy is integrated by an
individual’s control over information concerning his or her person. Some
scholars and law practitioners have tried to probe the Supreme Court on what
integrates an individual’s information but are shunned by the fact that
anything which is in the name of the individual is undoubtedly regarded as
his/her belonging.
The
threat of people’s information obtained online is being increased by the
advancement of technology and the shift towards purchasing more products
online. This also urges the legislation to further more put in place laws that
would protect consumers from facing a problem of finding someone with their
information or be surprised to be caught up in a fraudulent scandal. Privacy
can be placed under the social norms on the fours factors analysis because
privacy is a practice that most global cultures practice.
Over the years before
the great expansion of technology, the congress has put in place laws that
protect people’s privacy. However with the advent of technology, legislators
will always have to keep drafting some bills to be passed because some laws
that were passed 100 years ago do not apply or go in hand with the means of
communication that is being used or the types of technology systems that are
constantly being upgraded. The technology influences the law to place new
drafts which will shape peoples social norms hence have markets which are
favourable for more production of the technological products.
Laws
about privacy have been passed over the years since the advent of technology.
There are other new bills which have been passed and others waiting to be
amended that will have a great impact on privacy, how people obtain information
from the internet, how people upload information on the internet as well as how
businesses in the digital information will be conducted. There has been a law
called Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) passed by Congress in 1986. It has
been regarded as too restrictive in banning information sharing. The CFAA is
the same law that was used in prosecuting Aaron Swartz, an internet genius, who
was accused and charged of stealing scholarly articles from JSTOR, a
subscription base that stores articles.
The
CFAA states that it is a violation for anyone to access and share any protected
information. Looking at the tragic case of Aaron Swartz, he later committed
suicide because the CFAA’s penalties which he was being charged with are too
extreme for anyone. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has actually
called for reforms of the law to reduce the penalties. We do require privacy to
a certain extent, but not to the extent whereby someone resorts to suicide when
he/she would have violated it in the case of Swartz.
There
are also other internet laws like the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection
Act (CISPA) which is used to show how companies share information about cyber threats
with the federal government. The main problem with this act is that it may be
hard to clarify which information is regarded as a cyber threat. However
though, ignorance does not justify innocence. Almost every internet user should
be aware of these laws just a driver should be aware of the driving laws.
Most
of these laws have been passed or enacted as an amendment to existing laws
because of the expansion in technology. The main scope about this issue is that
we should have laws that protect our privacy to a certain extent but at the
same time, these laws should not be too much to the point whereby they may be a
threat to public safety like what occurred on the case of the German pilot
where his medical documents could not be revealed to his employers. At the same
time, these laws should not have penalties that are heavy on those that would
have violated them just like in the case of Aaron Swartz or Edward Snowden.
Bibliography
Duguid,
Paul. "SOLOVE: Understanding Privacy." The Nation 290.13
(2010): 30. Print
Etzioni,
Amitai. The Limits of Privacy. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Print.
Agre,
Philip., and Marc. Rotenberg. Technology and Privacy: The New Landscape.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997. Web.
Garfinkel,
Simson. Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century.
Beijing: O'Reilly, 2000. Print.
Slobogin,
Christopher. Privacy at Risk: The New Government Surveillance and the Fourth
Amendment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Web.
Legal
Information Institute: Cornell University https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment
Anthony D. Miyazaki Journal of Public Policy & Marketing
Internet Privacy and Security: An Examination of Online Retailer
Disclosures. Vol. 19 (1) spring 2000, 54–61 54
