Systematic Invasions Of Privacy

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Take into consideration this scenario: If a nuclear bomb was going to annihilate a major city and the only way to prevent this from happening was to spy on the grandmother of the suspected terrorist’s emails and monitor her every move for a week, then this invasion of privacy would be said to justify the means. Thus, intruding on an individual’s privacy is deemed as ethical is there is a legitimate reason in which the good of the many (country or society) virtually outweighs the rights of that said individual (the right to privacy). In reality, however, this line becomes a bit blurry. It is true to assume that the individual believes that privacy is an important right that must be valued. Yet, this individual must also admit that there are …show more content…
However, here the autonomy of the individual is diminished because it is being undermined. This point leads to a connection between privacy and autonomy. Systematic invasions of privacy, such as when the government stores information to exploit or manipulate its citizens, undermine their autonomy (Lambertson, 41). The government is not forcing its citizens to make a decision about their privacy – they are already making that decision, stripping its citizens of choice. There is no doubt that our rights are subject to the power of groups – now more than ever. Intrusive technologies and methods of obtaining information such as marketing to the use of surveillance in the name of security completely removes any notion of privacy as we know it from the pre-information age (Lambertson, 41). The consequences of this trend will result in a generation that will have no personal comprehension of privacy rights. This comes down to one ethical question: when do the rights of the collective surpass those of the individual? Understanding that violations of privacy rights must be sanctioned is the core of the ethics of internet privacy. Debates regarding privacy today results from the pressure of the states’ interest in surveillance and the citizen’s right to privacy. A modern manifestation of this dispute occurred when Apple attempted to challenge a court order that claimed they had to help the FBI hack into an iPhone of a suspect. Once again we must ask ourselves if we truly have the right to digital privacy – we should, but that does not mean that we do. We are not sheltered in the privacy of our own homes; we are all susceptible to government surveillance if provided with a warrant. So much sensitive information does not necessarily mandate privacy, for example, tax records, voter