Computers, Privacy & the Constitution

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JonPenneyFirstPaper 9 - 18 Mar 2009 - Main.KateVershov
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The Tragedy of the Communicative Commons: Privacy, Consumerism, and Metaphor Inc.

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 Thanks for the comment, Andrei. Arguably, consumerism is fundamentally at odds with privacy, since, at bottom, it aligns happiness or satisfaction with consumption. And consumption is hard to square with privacy. Privacy, by its very nature, is about preservation; about guarding intimate spaces from intervening forces, be they authoritarian or otherwise. One of those intervening forces is consumerism's need to expand, grow, and consume. But for the sake of argument, let's say you are right that consumerism and privacy are not irreconcilable. That reconciliation will nevertheless be difficult for the same reasons. As you note, commercial interests are actively pushing an anti-privacy consumerism and let's be honest: they have a head start and lot of momentum. A few centuries worth, actually. The problem with privacy metaphors being appropriated by these forces is: first, not only do their superficial cleverness or salience distract from the task at hand-- addressing why people choose convenience over privacy -- but in the process they silently promote and strengthen anti-privacy consumerism. Second, through appropriation privacy metaphors lose capacity to effectively oppose that momentum with, as you say, a visceral enough message. Is the Big Brother metaphor about privacy? Or is it about Apple computers and personal empowerment by consumer purchasing? The fact both are probably right shows that the metaphor is likely no longer an effective tool for privacy promotion.

-- JonPenney - 12 Mar 2009

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I think discussing privacy metaphors is interesting and worthwhile, but I hesitate to say that privacy is where it is because our metaphors have failed us. I think at the end of the day how much you care about privacy is probably very closely related to how much you trust the government and without a good sense of this country's history, no metaphor is going to help.

On another note, I actually really liked the first paper you posted and am sorry to see it go.

-- KateVershov - 18 Mar 2009

 
 
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Revision 9r9 - 18 Mar 2009 - 00:07:11 - KateVershov
Revision 8r8 - 12 Mar 2009 - 01:24:01 - JonPenney
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