Stop Looking Over My Shoulder!

It’s another day in your life and there you are doing the monotonous events that occur so ever often that it has become a habit. There you are buying your usual preference of coffee choice at a Starbucks café and walking out when you suddenly receive a phone call. “Hey, how about getting me a mocha frapp!” You start to freak out. Suddenly you feel as if your friend is watching you from somewhere and even though it is someone you know, the whole notion of you thinking that you were alone has been violated. You start looking around frantically to see where your friend is and you start to get a little edgy and uncomfortable.

Now, imagine if this was happening to you everyday, all the time, where someone is watching over you. It would be like living a life Jim Carrey did in The Truman Show. The act of self-disclosure is important in people’s lives because it may help in developing relationships. However, self-disclosure is usually voluntary. Humans need boundaries. The fast paced advancement in technology however, allows room for your privacy to be invaded. Be it the activities you carry out on the computer, the various functions that your cell phone possesses that you think are inventions of pure ingenuity, are all ways in which strangers can gather information about you. (Sullivan, 2006)

So what exactly is privacy? When an individual or groups of people feel the need to keep their personal information, affairs or control the amount of information they want disclosed. Privacy may be voluntary disclosed, but though it may be beneficial at times, it could also bring about some form of detriment to the individual disclosing the information. (Wikipedia Privacy, 2007)

If we treasured our privacy, why do we still subject ourselves to vulnerable instances where our lines of boundaries are crossed? In a perfect world, a relationship of trust and emotional connection with any other individual should include reciprocal self-disclosure. (Rosen, 2004) In the Internet age, we are usually obligated to reveal information about ourselves to people whom we will never meet face to face. Usually, when we sign ourselves up or register for some service online, we are compelled to reveal personal details of ourselves before completing the registration. This information unfortunately, may not be as exclusive to that particular service as you think it is. Information given may be manipulated to a certain extent without our knowledge. Sometimes, we receive emails or messages on our cell phones by organizations with whom we are not affiliated with, but seem to know sufficient information about us to know that we fit their particular target market.

If you have ever seen an episode of the hit TV series 24, you will be appalled by what technology can do. Aside from the dramatic factors that some of the elements of the show is make believe to enhance the attraction feature of a show, there are certain aspects that are as real as can be. It is without a doubt, that the activities you indulge in everyday at work could easily be monitored. Outgoing emails could be monitored by higher management and conversations on the phones could be “tapped”. CCTV’s could also be installed in offices to “watch” over the staff. All these elements of surveillance infringe our privacy and it can be rather distressing for an employee. Though not all employees breach company policies by using company resources for personal gains, the psychological reactance that some may get from the fact that they are being “watched” all the time may be excruciatingly detrimental to an individual’s mental state.

References:

Rosen, J. (19th July, 2004). "The Naked Crowd". Retrieved on 9th March, 2007 from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm

Sullivan, B. (17th October, 2006). "Privacy Lost: Does Anyone Care?". Retrieved on 9th March, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Privacy (7th March, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 9th March, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privacy&oldid=113354124