What are we trying to hide in the name of privacy?
By: Jaswanth Padigala
Tags: Gdpr, Human Rights, Security, Information Security, Privacy

Image Credit: 9to5mac.com

People keep asking me — what are you trying to hide in the name of “Privacy”? If you didn’t do anything wrong, then why are you worried about it?

I have always loved computers ​ever ​since I was a kid. The first time I used a computer was in primary school. We had a weekly computer class, and ​there ​used to be ​only one computer in the entire room. We were shown how to use MS Paint on a Windows 95 running machine. I loved using the white mouse (with a ball) to pick different virtual tools to draw shapes and color them. Then I decided that I should work with computers for the rest of my life, I made it my life ambition. ​Fast forward 20 years, I received my Bachelors and Masters in Information Technology (IT). I now work for a healthcare IT company in the United States, leading a strong team.

As much as I loved working on computers and became passionate about the internet throughout the ​last ​two decades, ​curiosity struck​ and I slowly started to question everything about this vast virtual universe. Why does Orkut need to know my birthday for me to hit on my then-teenage crush? Why is Yahoo Messenger letting me connect with my cousin on the other side of the globe for ​FREE?​ Why are Google/YouTube/​M​aps/Gmail free? How do these companies make money and pay the expenses+make profits? Youtube is a video sharing platform, but why is it trying to track my location? Nobody would discuss these questions. People around me talk about everything but “privacy” & security​,​ despite drawing big paychecks working in the IT industry.

Well, what the hell is “Privacy”? What does it mean to people? Is “Privacy” underrated or overrated? “Privacy” should mean something to everyone. ​No one bothers to give an F about it​.

I searched the online Cambridge Dictionary for the meaning, and it had two definitions: in intermediate English, “Privacy” means “​the state of being alone, or the right to keep one’s matters and relationships secret​.” In business English, “Privacy” stands for “t​he right that someone has to keep their personal life or personal information secret or known only to a small group of people.​ ”

For everyday citizens, it sounds ​like privacy mostly relates to health, finance, family & relationship information. Unless you are a celebrity where you usually cannot afford to keep all your information private, it is normal for people to keep information about their personal lives confidential. It is usual for people not to disclose their pay, debt & will details. It​ is​ quite normal for people not to reveal their one-night stands and their secret office crush. (The scope of this article does not consider abnormal people & celebrities. 🙊) Knowingly or not, everybody does care about “Privacy.”

Edward Snowden, former US Intelligence officer and whistleblower, put his thoughts on “Privacy” in his autobiography Permanent Record:

“..Saying that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. Or that you don’t care about freedom of press because you don’t like to read. Or that you don’t care about freedom of religion because you don’t believe in God. Or that you don’t care about the freedom to peaceably assemble because you’re a lazy, antisocial agoraphobe. Just because this or that freedom might not have a meaning to you today doesn’t mean it doesn’t or won’t have meaning tomorrow, to you, or your neighbor..”

To add ​onto​ what Edward said above — Saying that you don’t care about Privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don’t care about keeping your health information a secret just because you are a healthy individual. Or that you don’t care about the protection of financial information just because you don’t save your money in a digital form. Or that you don’t care about speed limits just because you don’t drive a car.

Privacy is not new, but there is a lack of wide recognition, realization, and laws around it (with few exceptions like ​GDPR​ & ​HIPAA)​. It is not for the citizens and the general population to justify and define privacy. The onus is more on States and lawmakers to spread the word and form laws around it — every nation should take a leaf from the EU’s GDPR.

Privacy may be perceived differently by different people, but there should be standards, laws, and broad awareness around it. People should choose who can get to know what information about them and at what time. According to me, failing to follow this unwritten protocol in any form is mostly considered a violation of Privacy. Companies writing a 20,000-word Privacy policy with sophisticated language is not the way to deal with this. We don’t want malicious entities and corporate companies to collect our information without our consent. After we stop using a digital service, our data should be purged. Data leaks should be made public immediately. The IT community, leaders, States, and media — it’s everybody’s responsibility to fight for easy-to-understand and robust Privacy norms.

‘I’ should be in control of ‘my data’ because it’s my data.

What am I trying to hide? Everything. You have nothing to hide? Good for you.