A Little Privacy?

Privacy...honestly, just to start this blog, I'm going to  throw out there that privacy is rhetorical. Everyone has their own view of privacy; what exactly it means, and to what extent each person wants it put into affect. To some, privacy is brutally important, while others could care less about their private lives, and in fact want there to be no privacy in their lives at all. Thankfully though, we have the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to at least have some type of broad definition. This dictionary defines privacy as:


1.  a : the quality or state of being apart from company or observation : seclusion

b : freedom from unauthorized intrusion 

2

a: archaic : a place of seclusion

3

a : secrecyb : a private matter : secret

Clearly, privacy can have different meanings. There seems to be a common reaction when people feel that their privacy has been violated, though; horrified, embarrassed, and/or surprised. People don't like feeling that they have been betrayed.
Technology has brought on a whole new wave of betrayal. How many times have we all seen a girl horrified at the fact that one nude picture she sent via cell phone to a boy become widespread to many different people? How many times have we seen Facebook and Myspace accounts get hacked, and many messages and comments become splurged all over the account? How many times have we heard about the debate of whether all phone calls should be wiretapped, and all calls are regulated? How many Youtube videos have we seen that have been of a person secretly recording another person during an embarrassing or terrible moment?
There are many other examples in which people have felt the absolute betrayal of privacy rights dealing with technology. Now what can we do about it? Reject and veto technology? In this day in age, that is almost if not absolutely impossible for a person on the job market or for a teacher. Technology is essential for this generation, but there needs to be some standards or at least some type of ground for ratification. In the end, even though I might find some private Youtube video hilarious, the person who it is about might be appalled and embarrassed of it's circulation, yet have no control whatsoever of who views it. What can we do?

No Secrets

Pg. 24 from The Medium is the Massage

For our Digital Literacies class, we recently read the book, The Medium is the Massage, by Marshall McLuhan. Put basically, this book was about the how media can effect our lives. MuLuhan's book was definitely not basic or average, though. I felt as if I was swept up into a whirlwind of information in which some of it was thrown at me with odd pictures, just to be followed by new bursts of information with crazier pictures than before. It was also quite difficult for me to really understand. I want to blame that on the fact that I think that I am technologically illiterate, but that is probably a poor excuse since this book was published in 1967. Some parts of this book made complete sense to me, while others seemed to just stamp a huge question mark on my face since I had no idea as to what was going on. As for the parts of the book that I did understand and those that were discussed in class, there were many concepts and theories about media effecting our world. One of the shockers were that some of those concepts and theories still apply today even though this book was written quite a long time ago. One of the theories in which I accustomed a particular interest in was on page 24, and entitled "The Others."

MuLuhan uses this page to talk about how media is the knife that cuts open the world, and exposes everyone and everything. "We have become irrevocably involved with, and responsible for, each other." Talk about a loaded comment. I find it completely mind boggling that a statement about media from back in the 60's has such a powerful truth that applies itself to us today. The reason I found this sentence staggering is because there IS no privacy within the digital world today. Some way, some how, anything posted on the internet, texted, called, or watched on tv can be accessed by other people. A picture that someone puts up on a blog could in some way be traced even after being deleted 10 years afterwards. A text, long deleted, can be traced by any phone company, as can a call. There are records of almost all tv programing that can be accessed in some way from 30 years ago. The fact that no privacy exists is so insane. Everyone is connected to each other if they use any source of digital media. Whether it be by what tv programs they watch, who they text or call, or who they communicate with online, everyone is involved with each other. 

Within the first part of his book, McLuhan states that "...minority groups can no longer be contained - ignored." I feel that this is extremely important, because it shows that small groups can now use the internet to empower themselves. A family owned restaurant within my small town now has both a website and a Facebook page, and has since received a much greater amount of customers. This is a form of advertising that thousands of companies have used in order to help make their companies more known and accessible. This goes the same with any type of group. There is no excuse for a group not being known anymore. If it is not widely known of, it most likely is because the group has not wanted the attention, or it has not put the effort out for the attention. Either way, the point and concept is clear: the internet gives opportunities to everyone as long as they know how to use it. 


Basically, as far as this page went, MuLuhan hit future knowledge of media right on the head. Especially as far as the internet goes, there is an extreme lack of privacy. It is still completely insane to me that MuLuhan was able to figure this out so far in advance, but I find myself grateful to have been able to read pieces of his almost prophetic book.