Thank you, Maarten and others who responded off list. I have some new sources to consume and I appreciate your input.
Jason On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 10:40 PM, Maarten Billemont <lhun...@lyndir.com> wrote: > On Oct 21, 2014, at 22:22, Jason Iannone <jason.iann...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On a fundamental level I wonder why privacy is important and why we > should care about it. Privacy advocates commonly cite pervasive > surveillance by businesses and governments as a reason to change an > individual's behavior. Discussions are stifled and joking references > to The List are made. The most relevant and convincing issues are > documented cases of chilled expression from authors, artists, > activists, and average Andrews. Other concerns deal with abuse, ala > LOVEINT, etc. Additional arguments tend to be obfuscated by nuance > and lack any striking insight. > > The usual explanations, while appropriately concerning, don't do it > for me. After scanning so many articles, journal papers, and NSA > surveillance documents, fundamental questions remain: What is privacy? > How is it useful? How am I harmed by pervasive surveillance? Why do > I want privacy (to the extent that I'm willing to take operational > measures to secure it)? > > I read a paper by Julie Cohen for the Harvard Law Review called What > Privacy is For[1] that introduced concepts I hadn't previously seen on > paper. She describes privacy as a nebulous space for growth. Cohen > suggests that in private, we can make mistakes with impunity. We are > self-determinate and define our own identities free of external > subjective forces. For an example of what happens without the > impunity and self-determination privacy provides, see what happens > when popular politicians change their opinions in public. I think > Cohen's is a novel approach and her description begins to soothe some > of my agonizing over the topic. I'm still searching. > > [1]http://www.juliecohen.com/attachments/File/CohenWhatPrivacyIsFor.pdf > _______________________________________________ > cryptography mailing list > cryptography@randombit.net > http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/cryptography > > > Without any reference, it is my understanding that privacy is very much a > luxury right, not unlike education, which grants us the freedom to perform > at our individual best when not alone and contemplate, experience and learn > all the "wrong" paths away from the unforgiving blind judgement that is > inevitable in a society of men. > > To unpack that slightly, privacy is very much a low-priority benefit, one > that comes far behind keeping fed and physically healthy. It is often first > out the door when sacrifices are being made with only minor short-term > damage to the society. > > Privacy's benefits are very much long-term, and mainly favour individualism > in the sense that it allows the individual to develop their own self, their > own views, and their own solutions to societal and other problems. These > benefits are highly praised in individualistic societies but hardly a > necessity for any society to operate. > > Privacy is optional in a society geared toward pushing values; such as those > strictly governed by religious principles (eg. Roman Catholic), economic or > militaristic goals (eg. Total War), and desirable in societies open to > exploration, the sciences and new understandings. > > In the absence of privacy, people tend to fall in line. > > Dreams and their many benefits are in my opinion proof that the human psyche > needs and thrives on privacy. > > I've read others defining privacy as "a withdrawal for the sake of making > life with others bearable", in the sense that privacy is truly necessary > only when the only alternative would be a personal conflict[1]. > > [1]http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2775779(The Social Psychology of > Privacy, Barry Schwartz) > > — Maarten Billemont (lhunath) — > me: http://www.lhunath.com – business: http://www.lyndir.com – > http://masterpasswordapp.com > _______________________________________________ cryptography mailing list cryptography@randombit.net http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/cryptography
