life after privacy Privacyisgravelyendangeredinthedigitalage,andwe,thedigitalcitizens,areits principalthreat,willinglysurrenderingittoavailourselvesofnewtechnology,and grantingthegovernmentandcorporationsimmensepoweroverus.Inthishighly originalwork,FirminDeBrabanderbeginswiththispremiseandaskshowwecan ensureandprotectourfreedomintheabsenceofprivacy.Can–andshould–we rally anew to support this institution? Is privacy so important to political liberty after all? DeBrabander makes the case that privacy is a poor foundation for democracy, that it is a relatively new value that has been rarely enjoyed throughout history – but constantly persecuted – and politically and philosophically suspect. The vitality of the public realm, he argues, is far more significanttothehealthofourdemocracy,butisequallyendangered–andoften overlooked–inthedigitalage. FirminDeBrabanderisProfessorofPhilosophy,MarylandInstituteCollegeofArt. He has written commentary pieces for a number of national publications, includingtheNewYorkTimes,WashingtonPost,TheAtlantic,LATimes,Salon, Aeon, Chicago Tribune, and The New Republic. Professor DeBrabander is the authorofDoGunsMakeusFree?(2015),aphilosophicalandpoliticalcritiqueof thegunsrightsmovement. Life after Privacy reclaiming democracy in a surveillance society FIRMIN DEBRABANDER MarylandInstituteCollegeofArt UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,ny10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,vic3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108491365 doi:10.1017/9781108868280 ©FirminDeBrabander2020 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2020 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd,PadstowCornwall AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData names:DeBrabander,Firmin,author. title:Lifeafterprivacy:reclaimingdemocracyinasurveillancesociety/Firmin DeBrabander,MarylandInstituteCollegeofArt. description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY,USA:Cambridge UniversityPress,2020|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. identifiers:lccn2019058605(print)|lccn2019058606(ebook)|isbn 9781108491365(hardback)|isbn9781108868280(ebook) subjects:lcsh:Privacy,Rightof–Philosophy. classification:lcck3263.d432020(print)|lcck3263(ebook)| ddc342.08/58–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019058605 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019058606 isbn978-1-108-49136-5Hardback isbn978-1-108-81191-0Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Contents Preface pagevii Acknowledgements xi 1 ConfessionalCulture 1 2 DefendingPrivacy 21 3 BigPlansforBigData 37 4 TheSurveillanceEconomy 58 5 PrivacyPastandPresent 75 6 TheBorderless,VanishingSelf 95 7 AutonomyandPoliticalFreedom 115 8 PowerfulPublics 137 Conclusion 157 Index 164 v Preface Twenty-first century democratic citizens have a paradoxical, increasingly contradictory relationship to privacy. Americans, for example, know, or are taughtthatprivacyisimportanttothenation’shistory.Somesaytherewould benoUnitedStatesifthecolonistsdidnotstandupfortheirprivacyagainst the British crown. And civil rights gains achieved in the latter twentieth century imply robust privacy claims. However, ours has become a confessional culture, where people instinctively share the most intimate, sometimesembarrassing,orevenoffensivecomments,images,andopinions. Thisispracticallythenorm,anditisfacilitated–andencouraged–bydigital technology,forwhichpublicsharingisthedefaultaction.Ifyouhopetotake part in the expansive and all-encompassing digital economy, with its many wonders and remarkable conveniences, you have little choice but to expose many aspects of your personal life. Or your data is simply harvested by corporate and government entities, eager to learn every iota of information about you;they are busy concocting ingeniouswaystoextractthis data, and inferkeydetailsaboutyourlife–whichtheythenuseinwayswecanhardly fathom. There is good reason to worry about those who harvest our data. There is reasontoworryaboutwhattheymightdowithitall.Manyoftheseagentsare immenselypowerful.Theyincludesomeofthelargestcorporationsonearth, andsomeofthelargestgovernments.Theirintentionsforthissurveillanceare oftenworrying,ifnotdownrightominous.Andyet,itisastrikingfeatureofthe digitaleconomythatwe,thesubjectsofamassiveonslaughtofsurveillance, arealsocentralagentsofsaidsurveillance.Whichistosay:wehappilyenable it.Weexposeourlivesasamatterofcourse;weofferupintimatedetails,and broadcast them widely and indiscriminately on social media. Or, we ignore pervasivesurveillance,andmanageourpersonalinformationnonchalantly,if vii viii Preface irresponsibly, oblivious to the possible consequences of a life lived in the publiceye.Ofcourse,wearelargelyunclearwhatthoseconsequencesmight be,orweputlittlethoughttothem.Because,itturnsout,despiteourdemo- craticheritage–andthehistoricalimportofprivacyinAmerica–mostofus areatalosstosaywhyprivacyisimportant,whyweoughttoprotectit,whatis lost when privacy is invaded or obliterated. This is a perhaps galling state of affairs,giventhefactthatprivacyfiguressoprominentlyinournationalstory– and the fact that privacy is crucial for democracy as such, according to philosophersandpoliticaltheorists.TheUnitedStatesisofcoursenotalone in forsaking privacy. Democratic citizens the world over are busy forking it overforthesakeofdigitalconveniences. Europeandemocracieshaveenactedregulations,widelyhailedbyprivacy advocates,tostrengthenconsumers’handinprotectingtheirprivateinforma- tionfromlargetechfirmsanddigitalretailers.TheUnitedStateshasbeenlax inthisregard,dueinnosmallparttothepowerofcorporatelobbies,which have prevailed upon Congress to avoid similar regulations. As a result, the Americanconsumerispracticallycolonizedbydigitalinterestsandagentsthat want to know every little detail, and monetize it all. To date, the American consumerhasnotputupmuchofafight;andconsumerbehaviorsuggeststhat mightnotbeintheoffing.ManyaretoohappyforAmazontotelluswhatwe shouldbuynext–whatwewilldesire,whatwillsuitourlifestyle,withoutour even realizing it. Many are thrilled when retailers know our location at any givenmoment,assistourshoppingventures,andsateourappetites. In recent years, several important political and commercial controversies have highlighted how tech firms and their customers disregard our privacy interests–suchastheyare–andcollectsensitiveinformationatwill,andin somecasesseektomanipulateus.Eachnewcontroversyrevealsmorethatis known about us, how little privacy we enjoy, and the ravenous appetite and ingeniousmethodsofourmanyspies.Eachincidentpromptsaflurryofcalls forstrongerregulationstohelpconsumersprotectandpreservetheirprivacy. However, it is unclear what those regulations might accomplish, given our entrenched culture of sharing. Quite simply: if consumers are given greater powerstoprotectindividualprivacy,canwecountonthemtodoso,nowthat they seem content, inured, or wholly disposed to exposing themselves on a regular basis, just to conduct daily business and socialize with others? What about the fact that prospects for preserving privacy are constantly worse, thanks to the frightening speed at which digital technology advances andevolves?Researchersenvisionboldnewfrontiersforsurveillanceanddata extraction–somewithinourownbodies–anditwillbehardtoresistthese advances,andtheremarkableinnovationstheybring. Preface ix Acrisisofprivacymayalsobeacrisisofdemocracy,which,manypolitical theoristscontend,requirestheinviolateprivacyofitscitizens.Forthisreason, anddespitethedigitaltidalwavethatcrashesuponus,wehavenochoicebut topressahead,someargue,withwhateverprivacyregulationsandprotections we can muster, no matter how modest, flimsy or incomplete. We must do whatever we can to help citizens defend privacy, and appreciate it, because that is the ultimate redoubt of freedom. Privacy is necessary, its advocates argue,toproducewillfulandself-determiningcitizens.Whenwelackprivacy, andeverythingisknownaboutus,wecanbemanipulatedbyspies–tosuchan extent, perhaps, that we are ultimately reduced to automatons who can be easily cowed, coerced, and directed by powerful agents. Twentieth-century totalitarian regimes engaged insuch efforts,and produced paranoidcitizens whowerenolongerrecognizablyhuman,politicaltheoristswarned–citizens who would comply with or carry out atrocities. Democracy – liberty – is unthinkablewithoutprivacy. Thetaskofthisbookistothinkit.Myaimistounderstandtheprospectsand futureofdemocracywithoutprivacy,orverylittleofit–andwithacitizenry that cares little about privacy, and does not know why to appreciate it, or protect it. I do not take on this task happily, mind you. I enjoy my privacy (again, such as it is) – I am the first to admit it. If I had my druthers, my personal data would be sacrosanct. At least, that sounds good in theory; in practice,it’sanothermatter.Likeeveryoneelse,Iamsteadilysuckedintothe digitaleconomy,andcarryouttasksandchoresenabledbysurveillance.For the longest time, I resisted inscribing appointments in my Google calendar, andusedanold-fashionedpocketdiaryinstead.Afterforgettingafewimpor- tantmeetings,however,Igavein,andresortedtothedigitalcalendar,whichis synchronized with my cell phone and email, and alerts me to looming appointments anytime, anywhere. This has become a convenience I can scarcely live without. But now my professional calendar – and increasingly, mypersonalschedule,too–residessomewhereinthepubliceye,andcanbe accessedby,well,whoknows?ShallItrustthatGooglewilltakegoodcareof thisinformation,which,accordingtosomeincisiveminds,givesdeepinsights intomyhabitsandpreferences?ShallItrustthatthisinformationwillnotget intothehandsofperhapsinsidiousagentswhowishtoinfluenceme,coerceor controlme?Bytakingadvantageofdigitaltechnology,andexposingmyselfin the process, I make myself vulnerable in ways I cannot fully understand or predict–evenwhilesaidtechnologysellsitselfonthepromiseofliberatingme andempoweringme. Giventhefuturethatfacesus,andtheextenttowhichwewillroutinelyand profoundlyexposeourlivesinthedigitalage–beforeagentshungrytocollect