What About Privacy?

Am I the only person who is dismayed that personal information is so easily accessible nowadays? Whatever happened to personal privacy? Is the idea of privacy just a delusion developed through our defining ourselves as individuals and being allowed to take time for ourselves, something that humans were unable to do until recent history and central air? Or is privacy a luxury that we have only been afforded because technology hadn't developed to the point where it could be so intrusive as it is now?

Cel phones can make us accessible regardless of where we are and what we're doing. Sure, we don't have to answer, but there seems to be a social expectation that we will. And on top of being easily accessible and seemingly on call 24/7, our phone conversations, other means of communication and personal information (such as email, medical records, purchase records, online presence & interests and so on) can be and are monitored more often than many would care to think.

Cameras and video cameras track our movements, both in private businesses and in public spaces. Some of these are used for security, others to enforce laws and still others to record information for later purposes, such as traffic patterns. (Many of the traffic light mounted cameras are supposedly intended to track traffic patterns, theoretically to make changes that increase efficiency. But given that so many lights here in St. Louis are on timers rather than sensors, and many of those lights continue to be poorly timed, it doesn't seem as if the information gathered is actually used for improvement.)

There is an interesting article in Scientific American about the pros and cons of reassessing our "rights to privacy" that points out many of the ethical debates that ensue from privacy being breached and discriminations formed based on the information gleaned. It also discusses whether or not we have a genuine "right to privacy" and how a multitude of other complicated issues become issues of privacy. And the American Civil Liberties Union is doing a lot to encourage people to think about these issues and to increase public awareness of when and how privacy is being breached.

I have recently created an artwork entitled Paranoia which focuses primarily on the issues surrounding privacy and security, especially in regards to cameras and video monitoring in public spaces. This artwork has been created as an open edition 10" x 8" digital print and will be shown in the St. Louis Women's Caucus for Art's upcoming Raising Our Voices show. You can get a feel for this piece as pictured to the left.