Today’s Technology: Is There Any Privacy Left?
Oxford’s dictionary defines privacy as “a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people; the state of being free from public attention”. There was a time when only celebrities were in the public eye, when everyone knew everything about them. Now… everyone knows everything about everybody else…
Each person you meet today is only a few keystrokes away from letting you in their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc. account; telling you their phone number, e-mail address; relationship status, likes and dislikes, favourite music, movies, books… The list is endless and they might have not actually wanted to give you that information.
People literally live their lives online – sharing photos, locations, thoughts, ideas; liking other people’s posts, posting “Happy Birthday” messages only because the calendar tells them to… When they’re not in front of PC at home, they’re online again via their brand new smartphones… So do we actually exist in reality? Do we live for real?
What does the future hold?
There was a time when we could turn on the answering machine, go out and have some time for ourselves. Mobile communications, however, changed that dramatically. Being accessible wherever you are may be important for emergency situations, but how about when people are just calling to chat because they have nothing better to do, but you do?! Ignoring a call, or worse – declining it, might lead to ever more aggressive calls and questions like “Why aren’t you picking up? Do you have a problem with me?” And if your friends happen to be a bit more panicky and you choose to ignore their calls, for example because you are with a loved one, they might decide something has happened to you and alert everyone to try and find you… A few years ago the same situation looked like this – “Hi, sorry, I was out, what did you want to tell me?” – “Oh, it’s okay, no problem.” It was our choice whether to return someone’s calls; today we can’t afford such a simple luxury…
Should we be worried?
Mystery has always been very important in any kind of relationship – the step by step discovery of the other person’s dreams, likes and dislikes; if they match our own and to what degree. This has been a way of keeping the interest alive and forging lasting relationships. Today, social networks have taken that away from us. We can learn everything there is to know about someone in just a few minutes, and if we see a single thing we don’t like, we might miss on something that could have been beautiful…
Privacy is also a very serious personal security issue. With enormous amounts of personal information stored on virtual servers and our computers, we could easily become the victims of identity theft, credit card fraud and numerous other grisly crimes. E-mails, instant messages and Skype conversations are all recorded and available for review by anyone who possesses the right skills or enough authority…
So we’re going to be ok right?
Yes, progress is important! New technology is invented every day to better people’s lives, to make them easier. But… no one should know you that well other than your closest and dearest. Are all your 324 Facebook friends such? Think about it…
