Personal Privacy in a Technologically Public World :: Technology Human Rights Essays

Personal privateness in a Technologically Public WorldNo matchless shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the dependable to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.1 So states Article 12 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, enacted in 1948 aft(prenominal) 20 years of debate and refinement among member nations. Furthermore, the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights in 1988 made clear that human indemnifys protections on the cover of communications broadly covers all forms of communications Compliance with Article 17 requires that the integrity and confidentiality of correspondence should be guaranteed de jure and de facto. Correspondence should be delivered to the addressee without interception and without being assailable or otherwise read. Surveillance, whether electronic or otherwise, interceptions of telephonic, teleg raphic and other forms of communication, wire-tapping and put d stimulate of conversations should be prohibited.2 The degree of privacy protection may dissent among cultures and countries, and correspondence may encompass anything from a casual conversation among family members to long use of advanced telecommunications devices, but the principle remains the same at a fundamental level, all human beings have a right to lawfully go about their ordinary business without interference or surveillance. Governments wishing to avoid United Nations sanctions may not make laws abridging these canonical rights, and furthermore, must make it unlawful for other entities to do so as well. As the product of an international organization, the Declaration of Human Rights makes a sloshed case for a universal set of basic rights that follow from unconditional characteristics shared by all humans, in particular our sense of our own individual identities, and our ability to make choices based on intelligent observance as opposed to instinctive reaction. In short, the Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the ideal of personhood, and supports the right of each person to a private personal life. This musical composition addresses some of the issues surrounding the growing use of technology in our nonchalant lives, and its impact on personal privacy, particularly in the United States. What manikin of information might we consider private? Is it our drivers license number, social security measure number, Master Card and Visa numbers and ATM pin? Is it our mothers initiative name, our grades in high school, our educational history, work history and volunteer activities?