The Importance of Privacy - Essay Example

The importance of Privacy For years, people valued privacy as an integral part of life but in this technological generation, privacy concerns lean more toward security reasons. Indeed, the computer age made it very easy for criminals around the world to endanger unsuspecting victims. In fact, even the most vigilant individual can become a victim of unscrupulous computer geeks. Surely, one can stop using the computer altogether if only to avoid being a victim. Nevertheless, in a fast-paced world where a person needs to work in order to survive, exposure to technology cannot really be avoided. The issue on employers prying on employees as well as prospective employees has been discussed by many companies and their critics. These are the reasons why several individuals are crying for stricter and well-defined policies regarding privacy. It cannot be denied that privacy is important to maintain an individual’s integrity so it is essential to point out how it is violated for concerned entities to resolve the issue. To make the discussion clear, the word privacy must be defined. According to Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis, “privacy is the right to be left alone, that is, the right to some measure of solitude in one’s life” (Spinello 305). Nevertheless, this definition was given at a time when computers were not yet in use. Therefore, the definition falls short to the modern and most necessary definition of privacy. Gavison gives a better definition saying that, “privacy is the limitation of other’s access to an individual with three key elements: secrecy, anonymity and solitude” (Spinello 305). These three elements will be discussed even further in the following paragraphs. Secrecy is an important element of privacy because it protects the individual/s involved. However, in our world today, information is easily collected and leaked out as James Moor terms it, information is “greased” (249). Whether the information is harmful or otherwise, the fact indeed remains that with the technological advancements, private information is easily stored and retrieved, violating the right of a person to secrecy and therefore, privacy. In Towards a Theory of Privacy in the Information Age, Moor discusses how personal information could be collected, saved and retrieved. He tells a story about how he ordered pizza through telephone while vacationing and how upset he was when the second time he called the pizza parlor, he found out that they already have his information ready. This may not be harmful to him but this is just an example of how easily information is collected. Nowadays, online marketing is rampant. For instance, a buyer orders a certain product online. This necessitates him to enter his full name, credit card number and for verification purposes, his social security number. Such information can be stored and the customer could actually be robbed simply through the use of the information given and of course, a computer. Let us say that the company the customer dealt with had no knowledge of the illegal transaction but since the information is greased, it can slide easily to computers of hackers. This poses a great problem on the secrecy of information of online buyer. Another problem where secrecy is violated can happen where giving of information is necessary. Sad to say, employers who are trying to protect themselves from unscrupulous employees use technological gadgets to screen potential employees and monitor current employees. George Brenkert examines the use of polygraph tests during interviews by certain companies who are hiring potential employees. Employers indeed have good reasons of taking extra precaution with the people they are hiring because there have been companies which went bankrupt because of thieving employees (Brenkert). Nevertheless, this also violates a person’s right to privacy. For instance, a warehouse manager interviewed an employee who confessed to a theft on the job to take a polygraph test, found out about a sexual practice of another employee (Brenkert). This case brings out questions about the validity of polygraph tests. The test may indicate when a person is lying but it cannot actually determine if the lie is relevant to the problem at hand or not. Therefore, there is no telling when the probing will lead an employer to the discovery of a secret that is completely unrelated to the issue being resolved. In the case of the thieving employee, he was asked if he had accomplices. The manager mentioned names of other employees and the polygraph indicated he was clear except when one particular name was mentioned. Eventually, when the manager asked why the test was indicating he was hiding something about the other employee, the theft revealed that he caught him masturbating. Although the manager fired the theft and kept his lascivious employee, he confesses that he had no right knowing about him. In addition, employers are also monitoring their employees with the use of cameras. This may be acceptable considering the cameras are placed in the workplace where the employer can verify if the people he is paying for are really doing their jobs well. However, employers also get intimidated and go to the extent of prying on the emails of employees. Again, employers have all the right to protect themselves from employees who are endangering the company. However, discovering information that is totally unrelated to their objective is a violation of an employee’s privacy. A probable example is cited by Richard Spinello wherein two employees, Marie and Joe, regularly correspond to each other. Spinello mentions that there is a great probability that monitoring their emails will lead the employer to the discovery of some very personal information. He also comments that even if the communication is strictly professional but Joe needs to report to two managers who do not need to access information about each other’s job, mentions something about his transactions with either the managers, knowing the information may endanger either of the managers and the employee. This makes prying on emails unnecessary nevertheless, the practice still continues among companies because of the simple reason that they are protecting the company. The second element of privacy is anonymity. With the wide use of social networks, huge numbers of photos are uploaded online everyday. The social networking sites are incredibly helpful in keeping families and friends in touch with each other. People can update their loved ones with photos but these useful tools also endanger users. For instance, the global positioning system (GPS) can detect where a photo is taken and posted. This enables people with evil intent to know where to find a person, see their unguarded sides and pose threat on them.Moreover, cloud computing devices have facial recognizers which can match photos. This is also employed by social networking sites and since these sites are used everyday by millions of people around the world, the range of the violation of anonymity is wide. For instance, a person uses facebook to simply connect with loved ones, update them about his activities and vacations. Since he only connects with friends and family, he does not need to identify himself in the photos he uploads. However, a friend who did not know that the person is trying to maintain his anonymity on a social networking site posts their picture and tags the person. The social networking site will now be able to give a name to the face so that the next time the person uploads a photo, the site will actually suggest a tag name. Lastly, privacy assures security. As James Moor says, “Privacy has instrumental value. It offers us protection against harm” (252). In relation to anonymity and secrecy, security is assured when a person’s information is well-guarded. As mentioned earlier, GPS can detect a person’s location and such information can endanger an individual. A person who does not want to identify his photos on a social networking site has the right to remain anonymous. However, facial recognition violates that desire and right and in some cases, this could also put a person in some danger. This shows that ultimately, secrecy and anonymity affects the security of a person’s privacy. James Moor says it well in his statement, “Although privacy is not a core value per se, it is the expression of a core value, viz., the value of security” (254). Since information is now easily stored, retrieved and used, every individual feels the need for privacy in order to keep themselves safe. With the dangers to privacy mentioned above, it is important to find solutions to this growing problem. In the case of companies employing technology to get rid of anomalous employees and protecting their companies, instead of monitoring emails and using polygraph tests, more in-depth studies on human behavior should perhaps be utilized. As Spinello says, employers should only gather relevant information about their employees (309). When it comes to cloud computing, the service should be limited to special circumstances only such as determining the whereabouts of wanted criminals. Hacking and other online crimes should be well-defined and given stricter punishments to minimize if no to eliminate online criminals or as Brenkert suggests, “managers should be imaginative and creative enough” to use other means of control (478). In conclusion, privacy is an important aspect of an individual that needs to be respected. Information used online should be kept secret for the protection of online consumers. Secrecy should be protected and not navigated by employers so they should get rid of the use of polygraphs and stop monitoring employees’ emails. Information collected through cloud computing should be used by highly efficient people only so they will protect anonymity instead of using the information on social networks against a person’s will. Finally, the security of individuals should be assured in this computer age with the help of government policies to protect and preserve the right to privacy of individuals. Offenders should be punished accordingly so as to limit or eliminate their unscrupulous activities. References Brenkert, eorge G. “Privacy, Polygraphs and Work”.Business Ethics: A Philosophical Reader. Thomas I. White. USA: Prentice Hall, 1998. 466-478. Print. Moor, James H. “Towards a Theory of Privacy in the Information Age”. Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility.Eds.Terrell Ward Bynum and Simon Rogerson. USA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. 249-261. Print. Spinello, Richard A. “Electronic Mail and Panoptic Power in the Workplace”. Ethics and Values in the Information Age.Joel Rudinow and Anthony Graybosch. USA: Cancage Learning, 2001. 302-311. Print. Read More