One of the situations which Etzioni described is the HIV testing of mothers in the delivery room. If mothers allowed for them to be tested for HIV in the delivery room their children would have a better chance of not receiving the disease themselves. Many groups fight this incentive saying that it violates the mother's privacy. The question is are we willing to sacrifice the privacy of mothers to save their babies?
Another example that Etzioni provided was the use of facial recognition technology to cash checks at ATMs and such. The use of these so called biometrics would greatly reduce the amount of identity theft, rouge criminals, divorcés running from child support payments and much more. Although this has many benefits to society, it would also eliminate the possibility of moving somewhere and trying to start a new life there. Once again the issue of privacy conflicts with the common good.
Privacy is complex because the issue of when, where, and how it should be implicated is controversial. It is agreed that things such as listening in on phone calls, going through someone's email without permission, and cameras in bathroom stalls is a violation of privacy. But when it comes to situations such as the ones above, we begin to skate on the line of whether its right or wrong. That is why the privacy issues are so complex and that is why we need to examine them further.
Your blog is very well written and hits on the key points of this article. Privacy is a complex issue because there are so many different levels of privacy that factor like testing babies to see if they have HIV. I think it does not fall under a protected privacy because it will only help the baby and mother. When using Biometrics to try and cut down own identity theft and dead beat parents is a fantastic idea. The problem is if people are trying to hide from an abusive spouse or a gang, it would be impossible to start somewhere new because of this technology and ultimately lead to them being killed. Privacy is an issue that must be examined with a fine tooth comb until a real solution can be found.
ReplyDeleteI believe you summed this article up perfectly just by saying that "Privacy is complex". I also agree with Michelle when she stated that privacy is and issue that must be examined with a fine tooth comb. I also feel privacy is an issue that should be tailored to fit each persons individual needs, and to fit each situation.
ReplyDeleteWell done Katie and I agree that privacy is something that had a fine line. The problem is that even if we would like to tailor it to each person’s need and situations, were all different and that is what creates the problem. I was always a strong believer of more privacy but after reading this article and your blog, some open information can be good and is essential.
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