technoculture314-09

Political agendas do largely affect privacy in the 21^st century. The increased security that governments such as the UK have chosen to install is a challenge to the privacy of individuals. I think there are a couple of questions to keep in mind when considering the issue of public security vs. privacy, although these questions cannot really be answered without extensive research. Firstly, to what extent do the benefits of increased security really outweigh the rights of privacy? And secondly, does the increased security help solve the problem, or does it act more as a band-aid measure that does not really look at the source of the problem?

The CCTV system that the UK has established really puts the Orwell’s quote “Big Brother is watching you” into actuality. I think Turow and Hennessy’s findings, that in the US the public often see the government as both a protector and threat to their privacy, can be applied to the CCTV system, and also to the UK Identity Cards. These cards can be seen as a protector of privacy. They are promoted as a security measure as they are evidence of your identity as a UK citizen. However, the specific function of the cards has not been identified, as pointed out by Richard Thomas (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article470264.ece). Thomas argues that there are a number of privacy threats that these cards also evoke. The idea that the cards are expandable is a major one. This means that the information compiled on the card, and database it is linked to, can be added to. The information the government requires can be easily be changed. Thomas also emphasises that the cards hold a lot of information about a person; including details such as every place that person has ever lived. The idea that ‘knowledge is power’ comes up here, as these cards allow the government to build a very detailed idea of who each citizen is and therefore sets the government up in a very powerful position. The extent to which all of this personal information is needed is very questionable. To me it seems that these cards are more an invasion of privacy than a necessary security measure.