Privacy - in the balance
Year 8 to 12 students, parents, and teachers
Your right to privacy is tied to your right to be free, but there is a balance between freedom and discipline. Not enough freedom stops you from becoming the person you want to be and contribute in your own unique way to society, whereas too much individual freedom leads to societal chaos. The more complex our technological societies become, the more the norms around privacy shift. Vast data collection from many sources can be at the expense of your individual privacy to serve the common good. But where do we draw the line? When does intrusive surveillance become unacceptable loss of privacy?
When we speak of privacy, particularly as a right, we focus on the individual. The individual’s autonomy and control over his or her person must be preserved. The individual must be protected from intimidation and coercion by the government or corporation.
Today, it is unclear what data can be subject to appropriation and to what extent this data privacy is an absolute fundamental right when dealing with such relative risks and benefits to the individual and the public. Protecting your privacy in the end protects your freedom of taking risks embedded with individual choices and, to some extent, living your life with dignity.
Source: An ode to privacy by Teresa Trueba
Question: How is your privacy affected by data collection?
Casper Pieters PhD Dip Ed is an author and educator who uses adventure narratives to enliven the ICT curriculum for young people. www.casperpieters.com
