BCO3442 Information Ethics and Management: Privacy in Modern Society

This argumentative essay examines the evolving concept of privacy in contemporary society, arguing that it is increasingly illusory due to technological advancements, globalization, and the pervasive collection of personal data. The essay discusses the lack of a universally accepted definition of privacy, the rise of cyber warfare, and the aggressive data collection practices of organizations and governments. It highlights the impact of social media, the Internet of Things, and surveillance technologies like drones on individual privacy. The essay also addresses the role of media intrusion, varying legal frameworks, and individual responsibility in privacy violations, emphasizing the dangers of data misuse by both state and non-state actors. It concludes by underscoring the challenges posed by digital illiteracy and the increasing competition for data, which collectively threaten the fundamental right to privacy in the modern world. Desklib provides students access to similar essays and resources for academic support.

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

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many democratic countries such as India, legislation has been said privacy to be the
fundamental right. For any democracy the disrespect of privacy of any people is serious
blot. Along with this fact another important fact has also to be addressed that many
countries are spying on the other nations (Fuchs, 2011). They are doing it with the help of
various mediums and ultimately they are attacking on the privacy of people living in
another nation. The most vulnerable are the people who are from different countries and
are living in some other nation as their privacy laws are kept at the lowest level. Most of
the governments do it on the request of other nation whom the person is actually a citizen
of. This also helps the countries to make a stronger strategic alliance with each other.
Sharing Intelligence data was fine but sharing the data that is gathered through internet
mediums is highly unethical.
Further the challenges related to privacy have deepened in the society with the use of
Drones for the surveillance. This can be understood by the fact that police is using Drones
over the cities for the purpose of checking the things that are going on in the society. This
might accidently capture something that people are doing in their private life (Solove and
Schwartz, 2014). This is not only in the case of police department but it can be understood
in terms of the fact that there are larger numbers of organisation that are using the drone
cameras for their operations. The benefits of the drones are such a large that privacy is
often compromised.
Not only technologies but the media has also being very negative towards the keeping the
society’s privacy at first priority. Media in the race of the putting things first has intruded
the lives of the people. This has affected the lives of the people that are in public life as
their private lives have also become the headlines of the news industry (Ilten, et. al., 2012).
There are many existing laws regarding safeguarding the interests of the people’s privacy.
The laws related to this are different in different parts of the world. Governments in various
parts of the world have been very strict over spying or stealing of the data related to their
citizens by any other organisation (Weber, 2015). Recently Facebook has been criticised
for making the data leaks to other organisation for their business. For this issue they have
been facing legal compliances in many parts of the world. In Germany they have been
highly fined for their actions against the privacy laws existing in the nation. In the nations
such as Russia it has been seen that the data regarding the people has been used for the
influencing the election. They are not only influencing the election of their own nation but

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are also impacting on the election of other countries. Such a high influence on the personal
lives of the people is dangerous not only for the people themselves but is also dangerous
for the integrity of the nation.
Somehow people are themselves responsible for violation of their privacy rights. This can
be understood by the fact that there are many people who are accidently giving the access
of their personal data to the companies. This is done in many forms like with the use of
Apps or some or the other games. Another perspective towards this is the fact that many
people do not have the right knowledge regarding the ways in which their data is being
breached (Schuman, 2016). People in many parts of the world do not understand the
concepts related to privacy as well as the challenges that they are facing while leading a
digital life. In many regards it has been seen that the people who have the access to data are
becoming more powerful and are threatening the interests of others. Due to lack of the
protection used of their crucial data they are easily becoming the prey of the attackers
(Benn, 2017). The future of the society that is going to be highly dependent on the data
privacy is going to be a much larger challenge. The biggest problem is that the people who
have certain amount of digital literacy also fall in the hands of the bigger companies and
hence compromising with their data. In the larger context it can be understood by the fact
that these people ignore the demerits of the use of technology when they find the services
to be beneficial for the company.
Even after the efforts of the government and other organisations, it is seen that people are
making so many flaws that it is destroying the society’s structure. This can be understood
by the fact that there are many cases where the violence in the society is spreading because
the external factors have the data regarding the place (Naruchitparames and Güneş, 2011).
This is extremely dangerous for the integrity of not only the societies but also for the
integrity of the nation. For the sake of the society this is extremely harmful as it is
destroying the peace in the world. The non-state actors such as terrorists groups are stealing
the personal data for influencing their own ideologies. This keeps the security of the
society as well as the nation at a stake.
The biggest threat to the society regarding the privacy is the less digital literacy as it is said
by many researchers that privacy has put at the stake because of the accidents and non-
seriousness towards the data. There are many people who are making the innocent people
their victims. Since the number of organisations which are working on data for making

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their business successful are increasing hence the privacy challenges are getting bigger. In
the larger context it can be seen that since the competition in the market has become very
intense hence companies want to gather as much data as it can so as to produce products as
per the demand of the society (Polonetsky and Tene, 2013). This is beneficial for the
society as their concerns are being heard but at the same time it is affecting the true nature
of the privacy. The methods using which the privacy is being challenged are increasing on
every day basis.
One other fact that needs to be linked with this is that there is digital divide present in the
world. This is making the societies that are weaker in the use of technology to be
vulnerable to privacy attacks (Calo, 2011). Digitally stronger nations like U.S., Russia,
China and many others are affecting the lives of the people that are living in the digitally
weaker nations considering the fact that the nation’s security infrastructure is also not so
strong to protect privacy.

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