Ethics - Privacy

Privacy as a Philosophical and Legal Concept

Defined as a “boundary that shields the individual from others.” It is crucial for self-development and the establishment of human relationships.

Common Law Basis

The principle that previous court rulings in similar cases serve as a guide for judges in future cases (precedent). This establishes the legal foundation for privacy rights.

Individualistic Focus on Privacy

The tendency to view privacy primarily as a right or boundary of the single person. The text notes that this focus has often obscured policy (i.e., made it harder to craft broad policy solutions)

Technological Advances in Privacy Invasion

Refers to the increasing capability of technology (e.g., pervasive sensors, mass data collection, AI analytics) to erode the traditional boundaries of privacy.

Contextual Integrity (Core Idea)

The framework argues that privacy is not about secrecy, but about the appropriateness of information flow as governed by the established norms of a specific context (e.g., medical, financial).

Key Components of Contextual Integrity

The critical elements that define the appropriate flow of information: Context, Actors (sender/recipient), Transmission Principles (rules), and Information Norms (type of data appropriate for the context)

Violation of Contextual Integrity

Occurs when information is transmitted, collected, or used in a way that violates the established norms or transmission principles that govern that specific context.

Contextual Integrity's Response to "Nothing to Hide"

It argues that privacy is not about hiding shameful/illegal acts (secrecy). The harm comes from the violation of contextual norms and the loss of control over how information is used, regardless of whether the information is 'innocent.'

Surveillance Capitalism

A new economic order that claims human experience as free raw material for data extraction and translation into behavioral data. These data are used to create prediction products that are then sold in behavioral futures markets.

Behavioral Surplus

The data collected that exceeds what is necessary for a product or service to function (e.g., Facebook needs some data to deliver posts, but it collects much more to predict future actions). This surplus is the core raw material for surveillance capitalism.

The Requirimiento

Used as a metaphor for the non-negotiable terms of service users "agree" to. Historically, the Requirimiento was a Spanish declaration read to indigenous people demanding their submission, which served as a legal justification for conquest if they refused. In surveillance capitalism, the terms of service similarly demand submission to data extraction as a condition for using a product, justifying the capture of behavioral surplus.

Valuations of Privacy

Different approaches to assessing the worth of privacy, which can include its intrinsic worth or its instrumental worth (e.g., for supporting democracy or individual autonomy).

Legal Precedents

The process where previous court rulings in similar cases serve as a guide for judges in future cases. This is the basis of Common Law in defining and protecting privacy rights.

Anti-essentialist Arguments (on Privacy)

The philosophical view that privacy does not have a single, fixed, universal essence or definition. It supports the idea that privacy's meaning is contextual (a view aligned with Nissenbaum)