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Is growing freedom of information eroding privacy? |
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In the Western World freedom of information is either enshrined in national legislation or in some European Union countries, incorporated through the European Convention on Human Rights. This supposedly not only affirms rights of freedom of expression but less obtrusively, though of equal importance, the right to receive and impart information and ideas. Sitting side by side with this are Data Protection Acts, which respect the privacy of the individual and the individual's correspondence. The notions are not entirely compatible.
Freedom of information is the more developed notion. Over the past 100 years many of the major conflicts have encompassed struggles over freedom of information, precisely because the development of freedom of information was restricted or suppressed. Privacy is a more recent development. It has both physical manifestations in terms of a place of one's own, where physical separation, a form of isolation, is possible. It manifests itself mentally through individual study, learning as well as research and development of ideas.
Supra-national authorities, Governments and Corporations promote their enlightened and liberal ideas of freedom of information through legislation. However, the availability of information and, more significantly, the electronic means of access and distribution have now reached such a level that they would have difficulty in suppressing freedom of information without taking repressive measures that would tarnish their democratic or reputational credentials.
The route to controlling freedom of information is simply to profile its use. At one level many countries including the USA and UK have reacted to what they perceive as continuous terrorist threats by introducing legislation which increases powers of surveillance. Much of this results in invasion of privacy through the use of extensive monitoring systems to analyse and profile the substance and transmission of information and to retain the information and the accompanying analysis. It should be remembered that this encompasses surveillance and monitoring of all information providers. Of course, all this is conducted in the worthy cause of crime prevention and national security.
Anti-terrorist and crime prevention legislation are the most outstanding examples of anti-privacy legislation. Increased intrusion into the privacy of the individual is increasing in a number of ways. There is an increase in surveillance measures; data protection powers are weakening; there is an alarming growth in governments sharing powers across departments and between governments and their extended agencies; and there is growth in the development and use profiling, tracking and identification technologies.
The increase in surveillance measures have taken place throughout much of the world post September 11th. Many countries beyond the UK and USA have enacted legislation to strengthen surveillance measures. The results of this have been the increased powers given to law enforcement agencies and security agencies of government to intercept and seize data with lower authorisation requirements.
There is an understandable concern that, with typical zeal, on the basis of their historical behaviour and through the nature of the training they are given, these agencies will trawl enormous amounts of innocent information. The consequent investigation, disruption and anxiety this causes can be imagined.
The powers of data protection legislation are being weakened. The EU directive on electronic telecommunications is going some way to eroding this. It requires internet service providers and telecommunications operators to maintain logs of electronic communications for law enforcement purposes. It is further suggested that restrictions be placed on access rights to protect sensitive intelligence and investigation data.
There is increased sharing of data not only between governments and their agencies but also between private sector organisations. Data collected for one purpose is used for other purposes. Banking and income taxation are areas where information is now being hared and exchanged for purposes other than those for which it was retained.
There is an increasing desire by national governments to use data maintained by overseas agencies to finger their own nationals and residents for their own revenue gathering purposes. At a seemingly more harmless level law enforcement agencies have access to passenger data both international and domestic in the UK, Canada and many EU countries.
One of the most worrying and most widespread aspects of invasion of privacy presents itself through profiling and tracking technologies. This has been one of the few areas of significant growth in the information technology sector over the past two years. These technologies are used extensively in the corporate sector for marketing, resource management and risk management purposes. These technologies can be and are used by government and their agencies such as the immigration services, social security and other services for tracking, identification and monitoring purposes.
We may have reached an age where there is almost total freedom of information but the more recently developed notions of privacy are being eroded in consequence. We are unlikely to reach an environment where information can ever be used in real privacy. Information users beware!
Copyright Bloor Research. All rights reserved.
Article and source;
http://www.it-director.com/article.php?id=3458
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