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Big Brother is watching you- Collective security vs. Privacy.
Hey there guys and gals, my name is Josh and I will be chairing alongside Emma Borthwick
and Iona Smith in Media I at our GWCMUN 2014 conference. When it comes to experience
you don’t need to worry as we are all very capable MUNers, so you’re in safe hands. I know
it may seem very daunting for some of you to be coming to this conference but just pluck up
some courage and make a point and get the ball rolling to what will be a series of great,
intellectual debates. We are all looking forward to seeing you there. This briefing paper will
give you a short overview of one of our primary topics in this committee; Collective security
vs. Privacy.
I will give you an outline of the pros and cons for both collective security and privacy and
also why this is such a major issue when we consider our modern society.
What is collective security and privacy?
Well the dictionary definition for security is this:
“The safety of a state or organisation against criminal activity such as terrorism, theft or
espionage.”
And privacy:
“A state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people”
So this is the ethical debate that many strive to balance. This debate has been going on as
long as secrecy has been an issue - i.e a very long time.
The whole situation has heated up dramatically after the American whistleblower, Edward
Snowden, began leaking information regarding the NSA’s and GCHQ’s numerous
surveillance programs. It has caused outrage as people, firms, even whole countries have
been watched for the sake of security. However, we need security to guarantee our safety
and wellbeing otherwise we are exposed to attack. What follows are the pros and cons for
privacy and security.
Benefits of privacy
We all want some of our information to be kept private; telephone number, address and
personal views etc. The most recent legal move to ensure this was in 1986 when the US
congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to extend government
restrictions on tapping into wire connections - such as telephone lines - and data traffic
from computers.
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However, the Internet and computers have evolved a lot since then. After this bill was
passed many of the American states put their own laws into effect, but there has not been
another federal law, covering the whole US put in place since.
However, in other countries, there have been some attempts to improve privacy, for
example in Europe a new bill is being passed to extend control to foreign companies that
process the personal data of EU citizens; it’s called the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR).
When we look at it from a business perspective, businesses (who are online) should have
privacy policies in place to assure their consumers that their information is safe with them
and won’t fall into the wrong hands. Also this guarantees that if the firms don’t uphold their
promise of keeping the information safe then they can be punished legally.
Another argument for privacy is to ensure that governments cannot abuse their power and
take advantage of people by using their private information as a weapon against them
without facing legal consequences. A good example of a government disregarding its
citizens right to privacy would be in North Korea. At the beginning of this year, they
purchased over 16,000 more CCTV cameras and tightened network restrictions to prevent
people wanting to escape their country.
The importance of collective security
However, privacy isn’t always what is needed. What governments and security agencies
have to decide is what information is worth looking at and what isn’t, one can say this
because if the data is private then they have no idea what it contains; good, bad or just
ugly.
It is sometimes important for government agency to access private information, for example
because terrorist groups may disguise themselves as innocent civilians on the Internet so as
not to stir up suspicion.
This is therefore linked to the issue of collective security. When living in a developed society
like our own we often forget how fortunate we are to have all the fancy gadgets, an internet
connection, mobile phones and so on, but what we ought to feel grateful for is the amount
of security behind it all. Without security it would be like driving through a rioting crowd in
an open top car; you’re exposed. If we weren’t protected by these security agencies (NSA,
GCHQ etc.) then nothing would stop cyber attacks bringing down our entire network with
the tap of a few keys. Here’s a fact to emphasise what I’m trying to say. In Britain, the
intelligence agencies have foiled multiple terrorist plots every year since 2005.
However, saving lives does come at cost. That cost is our right to have our own information
private, this has been highlighted several times in the recent weeks as the American whistle
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blower, Edward Snowden, has been revealing to the world’s press what the NSA (and
GCHQ) have been doing with people’s information.
One major example of a lack of privacy was when the partner of a Guardian writer was held
in Heathrow airport for 9 hours under Schedule 7 of the 2000 Terrorism Act for the
possible possession of material that may jeopardize national security. They were demanding
that he hand over all personal devices that could hold data (including his games console).
Some of these were never returned which emphasizes one of the true cost of collective
security.
What to do now?
So when we look over this ethical debate of whether we want privacy or collective security,
we have to take various aspects of each into account.
With privacy comes the right to keep some personal information to ourselves, it guarantees
that firms and governments don’t abuse their power and if they do, they can be swiftly
punished.
On the other hand, for security, agencies like the NSA and GCHQ may be going through all
the data without the user knowing as they don’t know what may be lurking underneath so
they need to lift the rug to find out (metaphorically). But, with every cloud there is a silver
lining, as security means we are not exposed to all the possible dangers that are lying in
wait in the huge expanse of the Internet.
So now its up to you to write a position paper on this topic. Don’t worry, this only consists
of 50 words highlighting your country’s stance on the current issue and nothing more.
These are due on 14th February 2014 and just email them to me at [email protected]
Once this has been completed you need to begin writing your resolution but we would
prefer that you wrote two as this would increase the chances of it being debated. Don’t
worry if you feel unsure as to how to write one, there is an example on our GWCMUN page.
Things worth thinking about when writing:
Is network security a large issue in my country?
What is the rate of cyber attacks, very high or very low?
Is my country a very tech based one?
If not do you plan to move on and incorporate some security protocols?
What do you believe is the best the way to solve this problem?
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Useful links
On this topic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/10/us-debates-security-vs-privacy-12years-after-911/2796399/
http://www.veracode.com/resources/facebook-google-privacy-security
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/06/big-data-predictive-analytics-privacy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9801850/North-Korea-stepsup-surveillance-of-citizens-with-16000-CCTV-cameras.html
Where Can I Find Information About My Country?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld
Where Can I Find Information About Global Issues?
http://www.newint.org/
http://www.idebate.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
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