Donald N. Barclay III
Donald Barclay is a Resident Forum Blogger that discusses legal issues that arise in the world of modern computer technology.
The Internet has been one of the greatest innovations of the last century, changing the dynamic of global discourse, the possibilities of human collaboration, and, unfortunately, our expectations of anonymity. Our level of privacy has been decreasing exponentially. Little information on the internet remains wholly private, and we are now reaching a point where the public domain of the Internet is pulling our outside lives into its grasps. People are walking around with cameras built into their eye glasses, parents are watching their children via webcams, and our government is monitoring our communication at a level that was not possible only a few years ago.
Many people look at privacy with an objective view. That is, if it is reasonable for society as a whole to expect privacy in a situation, an individual is theoretically protected. But we have a new question to ask: with modern technology, is there any objective privacy standard? Over the last couple of years, sources have revealed the government’s employment of intrusive monitoring practices. Additionally almost everyone has a video/sound recorder in their pocket. Just knowing these two things, is it reasonable for us to expect privacy? Where is the line drawn? One would hope that their home is a safe place, but it seems that is no longer the case. A computer savvy private citizen can hack into a home network and monitor activity in roughly five minutes, and the NSA has been remotely monitoring Internet traffic and online communications for some time now.
The standard of privacy is changing. While privacy was an implied right before, it might have to be a conditional right going forward. For instance, if one does not take reasonable efforts in safeguarding their privacy, knowing how open the world is, do they deserve the expectation of privacy? I propose that if one expects privacy this day and age, that person needs to take measures to ensure their privacy. It is now reasonable to say that privacy may no longer be implied.
Individuals need to encrypt their digital data, watch what they post on the Internet, and educate themselves on the digital intrusion possible in our physical world. The following is an analogy that most can understand. Imagine individuals are sending private letters through traditional postal mail, but they fail to secure them in an envelope. They are simply putting an address and stamp on a folded piece of paper and mailing it to their recipient. Most would probably agree that such practices would not be protected by a reasonable expectation of privacy. This is the kind of thinking that law may begin applying towards modern technology. If one does not take reasonable precaution to protect their data with secure passwords or device encryption, I do not foresee the law protecting them much longer.
Major tech companies have taken this to mind and have begun taking steps for their consumers. Most websites have a minimum threshold on what a password may be. These thresholds exist because: 1) The password is not easily guessed and 2) Modern encryption algorithms need a longer and more varied string to properly encrypt data to its full potential. Action is being taken on behalf of consumers by tech companies like Google. These companies are making changes such as forcing devices to come with their data storage in an encrypted state, and requiring stronger passwords when securing an online account. This is being done in order to ward off potential hackers and governmental onlookers, without requiring consumers to consider security on their own. But, while all this is being done, reports surfacing at the end of 2014 reveal that many people still continue to use the word “password” as their password, and most home WiFi networks don’t have a password more than “1234”. Should our law protect these individuals’ privacy? One day it may not. It will take some time, but with the increasing prevalence of data security breaches, one can expect it may happen sooner rather than later.
The world is less private today and we should come to terms with this fact sooner rather than later. If we wait, our legal system may make this conclusion for us and the results will hit the unprepared like a pile of bricks.
Published February 17, 2015