Big Data, Privacy, and Corporate Responsibility and Accountability

Details

Author(s):
  • Joe Pitts III
Publish Date:
May 9, 2013
Publication Title:
Choose Privacy Week
Format:
Blog Postings
Citation(s):
  • Chip Pitts, Big Data, Privacy, and Corporate Responsibility and Accountability, Choose Privacy Week (American Library Association), May 2013.

Abstract

The American Library Association’s current celebration of “Choose Privacy Week” highlights the diminishing scope – yet increased importance – of this choice.  After all, privacy is a fundamental human right, preserving space for thinking, reading, writing, bodily integrity, identity, individual autonomy, and self-and-community development — free from use, abuse, discrimination, exploitation or interference by the government, companies, or other people.

Privacy is integrally related to other fundamental rights, ranging from free expression, association, and assembly, to freedom from coercive interrogation or torture or extrajudicial killings by drones or otherwise. With ubiquitous surveillance, however, and the privacy violations by major corporations like Facebook (whose very business model has involved fooling people into giving up their privacy), or Google (whose Street View cars sucked up email content as well as passwords), truly voluntary choice recedes.  All the more important, then, to understand and assert your rights to “choose privacy” wherever possible.