Privacy does not really exist in today’s society

Information Ethics
and
Management

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Privacy does not really exist in today’s society
In all around the world, there is huge debate going on the matter of privacy. The changing
dimensions of society have made this issue a much greater one. Today’s society is highly
connected with the technology which has raised the concerns regarding the privacy of
people. People these days are posting everything on the social media and other internet
connected sites (Armstrong, et. al., 2015). This has made the lives of people more
vulnerable to the privacy leaks. Many researchers suggest that modern day societies have
become so much connected with each other that privacy has become a myth. Globalisation
has been considered as one of the most essential factor in this regards. With globalisation
the world has become a global village where anybody with the mutual consent can get
attached with each other. Becoming such a big network every time calls for the generation
of the issues related to the privacy.
The major concern regarding this is the fact that there is no proper definition of privacy
that is accepted at the worldwide level. Every country’s legislation has defined the
meanings of privacy in their own way (Smith, Dinev and Xu, 2011). What privacy means
for one society may differ for the other one hence facing the problems related to it becomes
much larger. There is no formal unanimous guide available with the society that suggests
do’s and don’ts related to privacy security.
Some researchers suggest that since the cyber warfare is going in the whole world hence
safeguarding data from getting into the hands of other people has become very difficult.
Today information is considered as the most valuable tool to make things easier. Whether it
is organisations, people or a group, everyone is trying to have more and more information.
Organisations have been highly active in this case as they collect the data about the
personal life of people so as to understand the demand of the market (Cohen, 2012). The
aggressive approach and fight for having more and more information about the societies
not only in their own nation but in abroad too has created bigger privacy issues for the
modern day world.
With the introduction of social media as the channel of sharing a data, the problems related
to privacy widened. Since the people are highly active on these social media channels and
hence they are posting many things related to their views, likings and interests. This has
made it possible for the companies to simply peep in someone’s life and get the important
information that is of their use (Bélanger and Crossler, 2011). As today internet has been

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used for many real life activities hence it has become difficult for people to maintain their
privacy while doing their work. In today’s society there is a serious increase in the
activities of hackers. This has raised the challenges related to the privacy of data. Hackers
are stealing the data for their personal or someone else interest. In the society where there
is so much fight for the data and its application is increasing data by day, protecting the
privacy has become difficult.
With the further development of technology like Internet of Things there are many personal
life things that are getting connected with the networks and hence the concerns of privacy
is enlarging at much faster rate (Pavlou, 2011). Since the modern days machines are
becoming smarter day by day and getting automatic with the help of sensors. The excessive
use of sensors that too when connected with the big networks like IOT has made the
concern regarding privacy more intense. This is because if a hacker gets the control of the
network that a person has in their home. It enables them to peep into the personal lives of
the people i.e. from bedroom to kitchens everywhere. It is estimated that by 2025, the IOT
network is expected to be connected with more than billion devices. Such a large
connection makes the challenge for the society much greater.
In the PRISM program Snowden revealed the fact that everyone is stealing the data of their
citizen and their allies nation. In the name of the national interest, governments are stealing
the data related to the lives of people. There is a mass collection of data by the
governments in the name of nation’s integrity or security of the nation ( Acquisti, John and
Loewenstein, 2013). Unique identity cards have been in use in many countries where their
personal information of people is stored at the central location. If any kind of breach
happens to the information security system then there is a sure than it may lead to huge
data privacy issues. In the cyber warfare that has been going on in the society the
challenges related to privacy is getting bigger. After that also there are many people who
are not aware about all these things.
NSA files leaked shows that the privacy which was considered to the right of the people
does not really exist. Governments with the help of mobile companies have the full
knowledge regarding where their citizens are. They are intercepting the calls of the people
whom they feel to be non-state actors (Fuchs, 2011). This tapping of the phone is done
without the prior permission of the person himself. This is good in the case when there is a
serious issue but if it is a regular practice then it is not in the interest of privacy laws. In