Technology progress has radically transformed our concept of privacy. The way we share information and display our identities has changed as we have migrated to the digital world. We carry/ interact with device(s) that give us access to all information, but they can also offer to the world vast quantities of information about us. We leave digital footprints as we navigate through the digital world. While sometimes this information can be harmless, it’s often valuable to various stakeholders, including government, corporations, marketers, and criminals.
The ethical debate around privacy is complex. Has our definition and standards for privacy evolved over time? How will it continue to do so in the decades to come?
Implications of emerging technologies will only challenge the notion of privacy as we further extend the integration of technologies such as virtual reality, the internet of things, brain machine interfaces, etc…
Company such as Neuralink attempts to merge the human brain with machines leading to potential implications for privacy. Brain machine interfaces by nature operate by extracting information from the brain and manipulating it in order to accomplish goals. There are many parties that can benefit and take advantage of the information from the interface. Marketing companies, for instance, would take an interest in better understanding how consumers think and consequently have their thoughts modified. Employers could use the information to find new ways to improve productivity or even monitor their employees. There will notably be risks of “brain hacking” which we must take extreme precaution against. On the other hand what if such approach was used for medical treatment purposes?
Technological advancement are significantly growing as part of who we are. The digital world has become an extension of our identities and the physical world. We will to a certain extent need a new definition of privacy until such a notion becomes obsolete in the near future. We have started to be more open as a society in the digital world, voluntarily sharing identities, interests, views, and personalities. The question is the trade off and balance between transparency vs privacy.
Will there and if so what is the new definition of privacy. Will ethical standards evolve and do people agree to it?
FINthinkers 