The Real Privacy Problem

[Commentary] Intellectually, at least, it’s clear what needs to be done: we must confront the question not only in the economic and legal dimensions but also in a political one, linking the future of privacy with the future of democracy in a way that refuses to reduce privacy either to markets or to laws. What does this philosophical insight mean in practice?

• First, we must politicize the debate about privacy and information sharing.
• Second, we must learn how to sabotage the system -- perhaps by refusing to self-track at all.
• Third, we need more provocative digital services. Designed right, sites would not nudge citizens to either guard or share their private information but would reveal the hidden political dimensions to various acts of information sharing.
• Finally, we have to abandon fixed preconceptions about how our digital services work and interconnect. Otherwise, we’ll fall victim to the same logic that has constrained the imagination of so many well-meaning privacy advocates who think that defending the “right to privacy” -- not fighting to preserve democracy -- is what should drive public policy.