A Private Life in a Digital World
As technology continues to accelerate, the concept of privacy has shifted radically across generations.
My grandparents viewed privacy as not just a right but a duty. They “kept their noses out of other people's business”—it wasn’t difficult, living two miles from the nearest neighbor with no phones or social media feeds to scroll through.
My parents inherited that approach but focused more on privacy around personal finances and freedom of expression.
As for me, I’ve followed their lead, but my experience with early e-commerce applications sharpened my sense of the urgent need for privacy standards. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when no such standards exist.
Fast forward to my kids—privacy for them seems to mean closing their bedroom door while they engage in social media, privately keeping their noses in other people’s business.
And here’s where the message gets a little disturbing: I hear it constantly now—“Privacy is dead.” I’ve heard respected tech figures say it at conferences. They talk about how the erosion of privacy can be a tool for exposing corruption, outing dictators, and combatting bad behavior in governments. But what about average people? For them, I believe privacy is more important than ever. It’s time we talk about it, insist on it, and fight for the rules that protect it.
Is Privacy a Right or a Casualty?
The question I keep coming back to is: Is privacy a right? If so, we need to define it in a way that meets modern challenges.
To me, privacy is all-encompassing with very few exceptions. Your thoughts, your health information, your genome, your finances—anything related to the core of your “self”—should be fiercely protected. What you do outside the home, however? There’s no real expectation of privacy anymore. Cell phones, YouTube, and social media made sure of that.
Social Media Platforms fool us into thinking we have some semblance of control over privacy, but let’s be honest—most of us are giving away our very selves with every “agree” button we press. I think people are starting to wake up to this, but maybe not fast enough. The public interest often trumps privacy these days, but there’s some seriously dicey ground here. Haven’t read Orwell’s 1984 or seen Minority Report? Better get on that.
Now, think about where this is headed. What happens when the web integrates directly with our minds? When humanoid robots live with us and observe every thought, word, and deed?
Are those private moments still ours, or have we handed them over to faceless corporations—buried deep within a wall of terms and conditions we never read? And let’s not forget the government. You think they’re going to look after our privacy? LMAO. That’s a hard pass.
The Future of Privacy—An Urgent Need for Action
I was at a tech conference in early 2024, and one of the “godfathers of AI” called an individual’s point of view “internal theater.” That phrase stuck with me. This answer implies there’s only one objective reality, one truth. And whose truth would that be? The company that manufactures the brain of an AI or robot? You see where I’m going with this—it’s no longer just about data breaches or surveillance; it’s about the very nature of reality being influenced by technology.
Governments are busy drafting toothless privacy regulations, reacting to change rather than proactively setting the tone. They aren’t considering what privacy means in the context of today’s rapid technological evolution. And honestly, why would they? They’re too busy funding tech companies to get the latest tech in their own hands for their own reasons.
It’s on us. We can’t sit back and wait for governments to protect our privacy. We have to organize, build communities around this issue, and—more importantly—use our wallets.
Voting may not change the course of privacy, but consumer power sure as hell can.
Imagine a modern “Rebel Alliance” but instead of storming the Death Star, it looks more like a well-organized Costco—collective buying power influencing privacy decisions. We need to fight for a future where we don’t just accept that privacy is dead, but where we redefine it on our terms.
This is where I’m heading, and I invite you to join me. The time to act is now, not just for ourselves, but for those who are to inherit our efforts or lack thereof.