Personal Privacy in the Information age

8/14/2019 Personal Privacy in the Information age

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Personal Privacy in the Age of Information

We are constantly leaving trails of information behind us - we give our Social Security

Numbers, credit information and phone numbers; we post on facebook, twitter, and google.

What keeps us safe? What stops people from using that information against us?1We need

guaranteed protection of personal privacy in our laws. We need to build a state and nation in

which we expect and receive a certain level of privacy.

Privacy is an essential underpinning of human dignity and free expression. Itencompasses not just physical privacy, but the freedom to control your cultural

presence, and manage the information and identity that surrounds you. A trusting andfree democratic society cannot function without the protection of a person's private lifeand sphere. Surreptitious and intrusive surveillance is toxic to trust, social harmony andthe integrity of the state.2- Pirate Party platform

The September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States was one of the most tragic events inrecent history. It changed the lives of many people, instilled a sense of fear, and created a

common enemy in the minds of the American public. This sense of fear, this common enemy,

was used by many as a justification for surveillance. However, we cannot let one attack change

the ideals by which the government makes legislation. We cannot let the fear of another attack

stop the forward progress of our freedoms.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the United States has been going backwards, instead of

forwards, in regards to civil rights. The governments under both President Bush and Obama

have disproportionately taken away civil liberties in favor of building the infrastructure of national

security, and the culture of politics has evolved to reflect this. President Obama recently spoke

about making a choice between privacy and security.3Governor Walker, in a forum withgovernor Chris Christie, agreed with the latter that the safety of the people is the number one

priority of the government.4Looking back to the words of Franklin, we can see that this is not the

framers intent. The first priority of the government should be instead to keep our liberties intact.

Only after defending these essential liberties can we move on to the security of the people. The

lesson we take from the 9/11 attacks cannot be for us to fear others and to give up our rights

instead our response must be to work together to build our communities back to what they once

werewe must work to thrive despite the horrors of that day.

We as people have rightsrights inherent to our persons and guaranteed by the

constitutions of both the United States and Wisconsin. These rights should be interpreted

broadly. We must take each part of the constitution and interpret it such that the rights of thepeople are maximized.5These rights, of course, include the right to personal privacy. While not

specifically guaranteed by any of the constitutional amendments, privacy is something that the

majority of Americans believe can be established as a right because of the 9th amendment. The

United States Supreme Court has agreed with this stance because of this necessity of broad

interpretation (Griswold v. Connecticut).6

Our right to privacy, then, is guaranteed by the 9th amendment. The people should not

have to make a choice between privacy and security. Since the events of 9/11, the NSA has


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become a key national player in the invasion of that privacy.7The public is fed up with this

creation of a surveillance state, and fed up with making a choice between two necessities. While

there have been many public outcries for the NSA to stop keeping secrets, they have continued

to deny the people. In the past week, there was yet another information release on the

ridiculous lengths to which the NSA has gone violating our privacy.8

There is a problem with the national governmentthey are not only keeping secretsfrom us, but they are also taking our private information. What then, can we do as a state? It

would almost seem that this is solely a national problem, and thus requires a national solution.

There are, in fact, things the state can do to change this; however, there are very few

effective ways to do so directly (barring a constitution convention). Instead, the state must take

on a different approach to solving this national problem. Wisconsin must build herself as an

example of privacy protection. Our state must pressure the national government to stop the

surveillance of her citizens, and must make all attempts to protect that privacy which is their

right. Thankfully, Wisconsin has already taken many steps in that direction. In 1977, the state

passed Statute 995.50, which specifically recognizes the citizens right to privacy.9In addition,

there has been an attempt in recent years to create pieces of legislation that work to increase

civilians right of privacy.10

This was done because of an accident that occurred under the Doyle administration. A

series of Social Security Number releases by state departments shocked the Wisconsin public.

The state has since then taken actions to ensure that this does not happen again and that the

privacy of individuals in Wisconsin remain intact. Some of the broader legislation enacted by the

state legislature is something which Wisconsinites should be proud of.

We can continue this trend by working with the legislature to increase the level of privacy

protections. We can advocate on a national scale for the NSA to stop its unwanted and

unconstitutional surveillance of Wisconsins citizens. As a people, we can work to pressure the

national government to find a solution, and we can set an example for the rest of the country tostrive toward.

Francis J. Klein

Pirate Party candidate for governor


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Sources:

1.https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacy

2.http://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#Privacy

3.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-nsa_n_3406448.html

4.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AVj9Ysczo 5.http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_84.html

6.http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html

7.http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360

8.http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-

data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-

d89d714ca4dd_story.html

9.http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/995.pdf

10.http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/08wb9.pdf

Additional Resources:

Multiple surveys of public opinion on personal privacy:

http://epic.org/privacy/survey/

NSA instance of privacy violation:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360

Spying done on Chancellor Merkel:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055
https://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacyhttps://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacyhttps://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacyhttp://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#Privacyhttp://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#Privacyhttp://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#Privacyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-nsa_n_3406448.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-nsa_n_3406448.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-nsa_n_3406448.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AVj9Ysczohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AVj9Ysczohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AVj9Ysczohttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_84.htmlhttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_84.htmlhttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_84.htmlhttp://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.htmlhttp://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.htmlhttp://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/995.pdfhttp://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/995.pdfhttp://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/995.pdfhttp://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/08wb9.pdfhttp://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/08wb9.pdfhttp://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/08wb9.pdfhttp://epic.org/privacy/survey/http://epic.org/privacy/survey/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://epic.org/privacy/survey/http://epic.org/privacy/survey/http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/pubs/wb/08wb9.pdfhttp://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/995.pdfhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324094704579067422990999360http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.htmlhttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_84.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1AVj9Ysczohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-defends-nsa_n_3406448.htmlhttp://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Platform#Privacyhttps://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/internet-privacy

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Personal Privacy in the Information age