“Do not worry about it, no one is going to know” – if this held true in the past, nowadays it most certainly wouldn’t.[1] With the rapid technological advancements and AI taking over the world, privacy is increasingly becoming scarce or a luxury thing to enjoy. Since most of daily life has been either digitalized or automated, it is almost impossible to be able to properly hide your personal data and information online without it being vulnerable to breaches.[2] This has become a globalized issue not only for individuals, but also for businesses, organizations and even for States, affecting all aspects of life, everything from social media to military secrets.
Within your career, employers are keeping tabs on their employees with almost 60% of companies using surveillance technology.[3] In education, and we have seen this especially during and after the pandemic, software monitoring for remote learning has been implemented which can be, once more, considered a invasion of privacy.[4] Furthermore, legal disputes are becoming increasingly more digitalized, since most cases can be checked and found online.[5] Additionally, even health information has become more and more accessible online and it can all start with our search queries on Google.[6] Not to mention, that personal relationships would also be amongst the most vulnerable facets, because a lot of our social interactions happen online, be it texting, social media, calling or posting personal information.[7]
Therefore, is privacy a thing of the past?
In its purest sense, yes, that would be affirmative, however, it does not mean that it has completely disappeared – it has more to do with the extent to which it can be ensured. Thankfully, the law is trying heartily to keep up with technology and to safeguard the fundamental right to privacy that every person should be able to benefit from. There have been multiple attempts in the past of regulating data privacy, starting with the General Data Protection Regulation of 2016 (GDPR)[8], the Digital Services Act of 2022 (DSA)[9] and more recently, the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA)[10] of 2024 and the Global Digital Compact[11], also of 2024 (GDC). While these build upon one another and strive to become more encompassing and comprehensive, there are still plenty of legal loopholes that criminal masterminds can exploit, unfortunately. For example, when it comes to a more ‘tangible’ situation of a data privacy breach, in 2019, Google was fined 50 million euros – “the largest data breach fine in the history of European data protection” – by CNIL, the French data protection authority for a lack of data transparency and accuracy in its functions and the information available on data collection.[12]
Consequently, what would be the solution? Stricter regulations, the ban of certain applications or reducing online presence, to name a few? None of these are possible without infringing particular human rights (i.e. freedom of expression and thought) or halting the technology industry altogether, which is virtually impossible at this point. The law will continue to try its best to protect individuals and communities from data breaches, nevertheless, there are also quite some things that we can do on a micro-level to reduce our chances of falling victims to such crimes, i.e. becoming aware of the dangers of posting certain data online, learning how to protect your privacy in online mediums, etc.[13]
So draw your curtains, close your computers and be careful what you post online, because you never know who is watching or who is going to use your data against you….
[1] Marissa Lang, ‘There is No Such Thing as True Privacy in the Digital Age’ (Government Technology, 2017) <There is No Such Thing as True Privacy in the Digital Age> accessed 14 Dec 2024.
[2] ibid.
[3] Rob Shavell, ‘The Daily Reality Of Modern Privacy Problems’ (Forbes, 2022) <The Daily Reality Of Modern Privacy Problems> accessed 14 Dec 2024.
[4] ibid.
[5] ibid.
[6] ibid.
[7] ibid.
[8] General Data Protection Regulation 2016.
[9] Digital Services Act 2022.
[10] Artificial Intelligence Act 2024.
[11] Global Digital Compact 2024.
[12] SearchInform, ‘Famous Data Breaches’ (SearchInform, 2022) <Famous Data Breaches – SearchInform> accessed 14 Dec 2024.
[13] Christian Pieter Hoffmann, Christoph Lutz and Giulia Ranzini, ‘Privacy Cynicism: A New Approach to the Privacy Paradox’ (2016) 10 Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 4, article 7.
