A Lighter View
Privacy: Invasion or abdication?
By K.E.H. Stagg

March 18, 2010

While I assume that all of us wear undergarments, it’s neither necessary nor desirable to have visual proof that this assumption is—or, worse yet, isn’t—true. That may seem a strange statement, but it’s not unlike the issue of privacy. There are certain pieces of information that, by definition, should be kept from the general public.

Last week I posited the notion that children don’t self-censor, and an alert reader (Thank you, Brian!) noted that many adults cultivate this same lack of self-restraint through the phenom known as social networking sites. Brian is entirely correct. Thanks to Twitter, Flicker, Facebook, MySpace and a host of other lesser known entities, an entire generation has been programmed to think the world anxiously awaits a high-alert news flash for the latest random thought to cross their fingertips.

Only a handful of people are interested in knowing about the pet’s hysterectomy, and none at all are keen to learn the results of a recent proctology exam. And since none of us wants to hear details of what I maintain constitutes a person’s private life, it stands to reason that we are even less inclined to see photos of our co-workers’ 3-day drunken spree, or the 24/7 live feed from a blind date’s shower cam.

Before the advent of what has come to be known as reality television, celebrities alone were splashed across the tabloids in unguarded Speedo moments. But now, every John and Jane Doe imagines stardom lurks just around the corner, so they pre-empt the papparazzi by revealing far more of themselves than is good for any of us.

My initial reaction to ill-advised personal revelation is, “Are you nuts?!” It’s bad enough that everyone with Internet access falls prey to information seekers posing as legitimate businesses or even as the perfect match, but when thousands of strangers are given carte blanche to every itinerary detail for a vacation getaway and—oh, yes, don’t forget—the guard dog will be safely stashed at a kennel, plus the interior shots show the location and nature of the alarm system, how then to pinpoint the intruder’s identity?

If I ever intend to sue for invasion of privacy, I’m first going to have to demonstrate that I haven’t been plastering intimate details of my life throughout cyberspace. And if I am sharing every single event that occurs every day of my entire life, where then is the invasion of privacy when an unknown virtual pal shows up on my doorstep?

The erosion of individual privacy perhaps tagged along with the rise in popularity of “reality” television shows and blogs. What is most frightening of all, however, is that this can’t be characterized as an invasion so much as a secession. Personal privacy wasn’t attacked as much as it was abandoned. Where will at all end?

Instead of chasing snakes out of Ireland, the real miracle would be if St. Patrick chased the stupidity out of cyber-blabberers. But then, I don’t think even revisionist history is capable of that leap!