Definition Essay On Privacy

Privacy: how does the government define it and what implications will that have on our everyday lives? If you look up in a dictionary the definition of privacy, you will find many variations and examples. One of the more in depth definitions of privacy is the “freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure of one’s personal data or information” (Privacy, A). How does privacy translate in today’s modern society, where individuals, businesses and governments have access to so much information? People have many varying views on the level of privacy that they expect for themselves and others, whether that be privacy from their neighbors, big business or government agencies. I believe we should be more concerned with our level of privacy, how it is being invaded daily, how the …show more content…
Privacy “is regarded in numerous modern cultures as a basic human right. However, the advent of the internet has complicated this view of privacy” (Privacy, B). In today’s modern era of social media, internet databases, and information sharing, we have at our fingertips access to more data than ever before. But, this also gives others access to the same information: information that can be harmful to you or I. An example of the harm that can be done is social backlash. In today’s current age of media sharing and politics, having a view that is unpopular to another person’s view can create great personal or financial harm. We are daily hearing stories about how a person’s personal views were expressed, often times privately, and then somehow that information was accessed and disseminated to the public. Then the public outcry begins to boycott a company because of one person’s personal views. There are many cases, large and small, where a business has suffered or failed simply because one person or owner had a political or religious view that was unpopular or disliked by a specific group of