Should We Protect Online Privacy or Share Information Openly?

Should We Protect Online Privacy or Share Information Openly?

The internet age has fueled unprecedented levels of personal information sharing, sparking debates regarding online privacy. While some argue staunchly that protecting privacy is vital, others insist embracing openness by sharing data enables progress. Upon analysis, it becomes evident privacy and openness represent complex values requiring thoughtful negotiation rather than dogmatic polarity. Sharing certain intimate information voluntarily can enable connection and innovation. However, retaining privacy around core facets of identity and residence remains essential for human dignity and liberty. The growth of social media and increased data collection by companies has led to more personal information being available online than ever before. This has polarized views, with privacy advocates warning of the dangers of too much openness while open data proponents tout the benefits. A nuanced view shows while openness can promote positive values like connection and innovation, core aspects of privacy must also be protected for the sake of human rights and freedom.

In his article “Sharing is a Trap,” technology skeptic Andrew Keen argues today’s loss of privacy inherent in social media undermines creativity and freedom. Keen invokes the long philosophical tradition exalting privacy as foundational for identity and dissent. He references how seminal thinkers like Mill valued individual uniqueness. The author also highlights Warren and Brandeis’s 1890 invention of privacy as a right shielding the domestic sphere from journalistic intrusions (Keen). He goes ahead in his article to reference dystopian novelists like Orwell, who critiqued excessive transparency as totalitarian, stating that they “tried to shield individual privacy from the panopticon’s always-on gaze” Keen). Highlighting phenomena like Facebook oversharing and radical transparency advocates like Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, Keen warns today’s cultural mania for digital exhibitionism risks entrapping humanity in a networked prison hostile to originality and liberty.