Privacy

Ubiquitous digital surveillance should simply end in its current form. There is no justifiable reason to allow so many companies to accumulate so much data on so many people. Inviting users to “click here to agree” to vague, hard-to-pin-down terms of use doesn’t produce “informed consent.”

Source: How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump​

‘ambient privacy’—the understanding that there is value in having our everyday interactions with one another remain outside the reach of monitoring, and that the small details of our daily lives should pass by unremembered. What we do at home, work, church, school, or in our leisure time does not belong in a permanent record. Not every conversation needs to be a deposition.

Source: https://idlewords.com/2019/06/the_new_wilderness.htm​

Privacy matters because the lack of it gives others power over you. [...] You have your attention, your presence of mind – everyone is fighting for it. They want to know more about you so they can know how best to distract you, even if that means luring you away from quality time with your loved ones or basic human needs such as sleep.

Source: https://aeon.co/essays/privacy-matters-because-it-empowers-us-all​

There is no simple solution to the problem of privacy, because privacy itself is a solution to societal challenges that are in constant flux. Some are natural and beyond our control; others are technological and should be within our control but are shaped by a panoply of complex social and material forces with indeterminate effects. Privacy does not mean stopping the flow of data; it means channeling it wisely and justly to serve societal ends and values and the individuals who are its subjects, particularly the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

Source: https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-fantasy-of-opting-out/​