From here:
Younger people, one could point out, are the only ones for whom it seems to have sunk in that the idea of a truly private life is already an illusion. Every street in New York has a surveillance camera. Each time you swipe your debit card at Duane Reade or use your MetroCard, that transaction is tracked. Your employer owns your e-mails. The NSA owns your phone calls. Your life is being lived in public whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.
So it may be time to consider the possibility that young people who behave as if privacy doesn’t exist are actually the sane people, not the insane ones. For someone like me, who grew up sealing my diary with a literal lock, this may be tough to accept. But under current circumstances, a defiant belief in holding things close to your chest might not be high-minded. It might be an artifact—quaint and naïve, like a determined faith that virginity keeps ladies pure. Or at least that might be true for someone who has grown up “putting themselves out there” and found that the benefits of being transparent make the risks worth it.
Interesting…
I still wonder about all this… I mean.. I acknowledge that some things truly have become a lot more transparent overall–even if power relations do seem to mean that things are more transparent to certain individuals than they are to others–but even taking that semi-caveat into account.. the overall level of transparency has increased in both relative and absolute senses for people in our western society…
The only question I have is whether my entire life is really super transparent. Is everything about me known? I find this an interesting thought, since if I think about it, there are so many things about me–my opinions about various people.. what I do in my spare time.. all the thoughts that i don’t have time to put down onto LJ… that almost none of even my close friends know about me…
I guess.. what I’m saying is that while I would admit that a whole hell of our life is now lived out in “public”.. it seems very much like most of us actually walk around with blinders on.. so that we really don’t see all of this life… now.. that doesn’t mean that someone couldn’t stop and decide to watch you in particular and focus on you and see much of your life.. but usually, people are so involved in their own lives.. that they don’t have time to do this…
Is privacy thus still possible??? I’m not sure.. maybe it is.. but it is rather much more like a kind of “privacy by default”.. in the sense that it is not guaranteed.. but can happen…
interesting to think about..
clinging to privacy might be naive, but still worthwhile in my opinion. Just because a belief is old fashioned doesn’t mean its not worth preserving…
The analogy of virginity isn’t really appropriate. while it might be old fashioned, its still a personal choice. Privacy is becoming less and less so. (though if you try hard…)
Yup, pretty much how I feel.