We all know that privacy is a thing of the past, right? … 1) Prosecutors have been arguing for decades that you have no right to expectation of privacy in your trash … 2) Privacy of location … just how pervasive the location spying and tracking grid is becoming … 3) Privacy of thought … mind-reading computers will one day make sure that even your privatest of private thoughts will no longer be so private … 4) Privacy of Transaction … 5) Privacy of DNA. The Corbett Report: 5 Privacies You Didn’t Know You Lost, James Corbett online 2017
We can hardly move about, surf the internet, communicate or do our shopping without all our data being recorded, stored and analysed, whether its through our smartphone, discount card, e-government login, medical file, search query, digital thermostat or Facebook account. Are we the last generation for whom privacy and freedom was seen as self-evident? The Bureau of Digital Sabotage, PVRO 2014
A dragnet that whistleblower Edward Snowden made visible. ibid.
Can we even exist without these nine companies that control our online communications? And how much leeway do we have to circumvent this invisible digital dragnet? ibid.
We live under a billion unblinking eyes – a global surveillance system that solves crime and uncovers terrorist plots and helps stop abusive power. But are we ready for a world without secrets when not even our homes are off limits and corporations know our every desire? Should we say goodbye to our privacy? Morgan Freeman’s Through the Wormhole s7e1: Is Privacy Dead? Science 2016
Private lives should be no business of the State. The State is bad enough as it is. It cannot educate or medicate or feed the people; it cannot do anything but kill the people. No State like that do we want prying into our private lives. Gore Vidal, cited Gert Jonkers, ‘Gore Vidal the Fantastic Man’, Butt no. 20 April 2007
Electronic surveillance is just as important as modern-day counter-terrorism. MI5 has the capability to intercept phone calls, see browsing histories, and exploit CCTV. But where does that leave our privacy? Tonight: Inside MI5: Keeping the UK Safe, ITV 2020
The absence of privacy is not the presence of security; and the presence of security is not the absence of privacy. Thoughtcrime, Snowden, Amazon 2017
Privacy is what makes you an individual; privacy is what makes society open. ibid.
The dangers of facial recognition technology … Would you feel safe in public? … Should we be able to expect a reasonable level of privacy in our private lives? Why Facial Recognition Technology is So Dangerous, Youtube 14.48, Second Thought 2020
We are living the techno dream. Right? … [a] city decides to place extra cameras; Facebook argues over privacy; the Netherlands introduces digital border surveillance. It intrigued me. What is actually known about you and me? Panopticon, 2012
Are we being watched? And how? ibid.
As a [tram] passenger you don’t realise you are being scanned … The scan of my face is stored in the database of the transportation company. There it is stored for seven days. ibid.
With data retention, a digital profile is created from your online life. ibid.
Is this getting a bit much? What was the definition of privacy? ibid.
Despite many promises, the government keeps making mistakes. ibid.
Personal information can very easily land on the streets. ibid.
We see the techno-optimism within the government. But what about compaints? ibid.