Infotechfinal 1
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This document discusses privacy in the information age. It begins by introducing the concept of panopticism as envisioned by Jeremy Bentham and expanded upon by Foucault, referring to a social structure where people feel they could be watched at any time. Concrete examples are then given of how this manifests on Facebook and Google, where personal information and behavior are tracked extensively. The document explores what privacy means, whether it should be considered a right, and how individuals are shaped by social forces like surveillance technologies. It concludes by recommending carefully considering the costs and benefits of new technologies and respecting boundaries between public and private spheres.
Infotechfinal 1
- 1. Privacy in the Information AgePresented by: Andrew WesolekInformation TechnologyFall, 2009
- 2. Panopticism: The Theoretical FoundationPanoptic (all seeing) structure first envisioned by Jeremy Bentham as a perfect prisonFoucault takes a more metaphorical approach: Panopticism is not a physical structure, but a social one. “To maintain order in a democratic and capitalist society, the populace needs to believe that any person could be surveilled at any time.”Quote and Picture taken from: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/English/theory/newhistoricism/modules/foucaultcarceral.html
- 3. Concrete ManifestationsFacebook:20% of colleges and universities currently screen applicants’ social networking sites. Content you share is no longer “yours”"We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile” –Facebook privacy policyYou cannot remove content from Facebook’s servers“Facebook is able to track the buying habits of its users on affiliated third-party sites even when they are logged out of their account or have opted out of its controversial ‘Beacon’ tracking service”. - http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Logged-in-or-out-Facebook-is-watching-you/0,130061744,339284281,00.htm
- 5. What is Privacy Anyway?Adam Moore: “A right to control access to and uses of—places, bodies, and personal information”Note the normative and descriptive aspectsAlso, element of control
- 6. Should we really have a Right to Privacy?Some Say noA right to privacy of what?Importance of Intentionality
- 7. Back to FoucaultOn Panopticisim: “It is not that the beautiful totality of the individual is amputated, repressed, altered by our social order, it is rather that the individual is carefully fabricated within it”We might strengthen this statement by postulating that privacy is a necessary condition for freedom
- 8. What should we do?Carefully examine costs and benefits of new technologyDefine a domestic (private) sphere and respect its boundariesConsider and respect the intentionality of our ‘digital actions’http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/images/2008/08/29/surveillance_screen_peterme.jpg