The Privacy Trap

How Our Cocoon of Security could Breed Inner Demons

Digital Security is a two-edged sword. You are told that if you are not secure, you will have problems: you might lose all your money, someone might hack your account, steal your passwords...... Terrified, we subscribe. You are also given a gift of privacy, anonymity and told that now that this secure service is enabled no one else can see what you are doing, snoop on you or take away your freedom of doing things- including those which society would never approve of. Now isn't that a wonderful way to market a service that serves the corporation, but does us more harm than good. Nevertheless, we buy into the narrative ending up with ultra secure devices and services.

What is the result? Contrary to what we're told—that it is to protect us from thieves—it unleashes a darker side of us that throws caution to the winds knowing that there is no agency that can interfere with our right to live the way we think fit. We are now enabled to break rules, bypass restrictions and snoop on others too!

Stealing? Oh yes "No one can see me, I am secure, what's the harm if I illegally download a copyrighted book, watch a newly released pirated movie or listen to this music for free...."

So while your security might protect you from external thieves to a small extent, maybe fraction of your daily transactions, it could get us to be curious about other people's lives or eager to covet that which belongs to someone else, or to participate in something unethical..... Why on earth would we do that? Remember, we are secure- No one will know!

In this way by making people feel invincible, powerful, secure and protected this very ecosystem of security would unleash a force that is doing just the opposite. Each of us could now become security threats as we try to do things which we would not otherwise indulge in. Emboldened by this false sense of security one might start snooping into other people's lives, thereby becoming a security threat - Something that you were worried would happen to you.

Here are a few more example scenarios:

You might start accessing things not meant for you, for which you have not paid, thus joining hands with those who covet that which belongs to others.

You might start cheating on your near and dear ones, your spouse, your kids, your employer...... You might participate in antisocial activities, writing anonymous blogs worse than this one ;) or instigating social violence... All in all you could become a person of low fidelity; you could start becoming a social security threat......

The irony is that rather than protecting you from threats, this security is motivating you, enticing you, to become the threat itself- to become the very security issue that makes the existence of these corporations necessary!

When Chronic need for Privacy alienates you from social networks

Then there is yet another outcome of this privacy and freedom narrative.

Since your mind knows the freedom that it can experience under the cover of security and privacy it craves for more and more privacy. Privacy alienates you. You can now indulge and do things you would never do in a social setting. It creates a silo out of an individual who is supposed to be a part of a community. You make yourself more and more separate from the rest. You start to isolate yourself. You go nuclear.

This wanting to go nuclear is not man's natural tendency. It is an addiction. Just like a drug addict desires only his next hit and is ready to steal from his family or snitch on his friends for it, so also a person addicted to the daily dose of privacy is ready to do anything for it. What drives people to want privacy is the access it gives your Shadripus to do whatever they please.

How many instances of infidelity in relationships, work ethics, anti social activities have we seen - most of which were possible as the perpetrators were emboldened by a promise to keep all their activities private and secret. In the protection of that cocoon, these primal desires, which society normally suppresses for its own well being, start to flourish. Over time, as these vices take grip, they impact marriages, impact organizations, social structures, they shatter character. One can fall into a trap, like we saw with the a few Indian defense officials who were ensnared in honey traps—they became not just victims, but criminals. Why did they lose everything? Because the garb of privacy, made them feel immune, protected.

The Way Out: From Nuclear Isolation to Communal Accountability

So, what is the way forward? We need to rethink this privacy trap.

While secure devices are a necessity, we should be using them for what they are meant to do- Protect us and our data.

We should be cognizant of the fact that the privacy trap can inadvertently encourage traits that flourish without resistance in the dark, only to cause chaos in the light. Security should be an enabler, a protection that keeps us safe, but we should also watch as to what we are becoming in its presence.

Are we investing in a fortress that protects us and our loved ones or are we building a cage for our own demons? The answer lies not just in thicker secure walls, but in returning to a world, a space amongst the ones we love and trust where we are seen, known, and gently held accountable—a world where we are secure not because no one can see us, but because we have nothing to hide.