Surrendering privacy is the cost of admission
privacy has been commodified and we
surrender it for all sorts of things because
there’s a benefit to doing so.
Balancing Sociality vs.
Privacy
Sociality has always required some (voluntary)
abandonment of privacy. In order to become
social, we must give up some of our private time
and space, so as to share it with others.
(Papacharissi)
Balancing Sociality vs.
Privacy
This balance between privacy and sociality has
always existed; what is upsetting to many users
is that it now rests upon a social plane that
digitally records, archives, and tracks social
behaviors by default.
(Papacharissi)
Privacy as Commodity
All Web–accessible platforms, offer services,
mostly social, in exchange for personal
information. This simple step, taken by many,
transforms our personal information into
currency, and our privacy into a commodity.
(Papacharissi)
Privacy as Commodity
Slowly, privacy defined as the right to be left alone attains
the characteristics of a luxury commodity, in that
1. it becomes a good inaccessible to most
2. it is disproportionately costly to the average individual’s
ability to acquire and retain it, and
3. it becomes associated with social benefits inversely, in
that the social cost of not forsaking parts of one’s
privacy in exchange for information goods and services
(e–mail accounts free–of–charge, online social
networking) places one at a social disadvantage.
(Papacharissi)
The Privacy Divide
…what renders privacy a luxury commodity is that
obtaining it implies a level of computer literacy that
is inaccessible to most, and typically associated with
higher income and education levels, and certain
ethnic groups, in ways that mirror dominant socio–
demographic inequalities (Hargittai, 2008). As a
luxury commodity, the right to privacy, afforded to
those fortunate enough to be Internet–literate
becomes a social stratifier; it divides users into
classes of haves and have–nots, thus creating a
privacy divide. (Papacharissi)
What do we do?
The goal for regulation is to effectively turn
privacy into a normal good — a good that
everyone may afford, or even better, a public
good. A regulatory solution to the privacy divide
must address market factors that render privacy
a luxury commodity.
(Papacharissi)
Your blogs today…
Get in small groups and chat about your answer
to today’s question:
Write a post that describes the key points of this
week's readings (in your opinion). Conclude by
giving your own take on privacy, and make sure
to refer to the readings.
Cory Doctorow
Facebook, Privacy, & Kids
Next week…
So, if we don’t have much agency in the
landscape of social media, how can users claim
agency over our media production in the
landscape of copyright laws?