What do you value more –- your security or your privacy? And do you have to choose between the two?
This is Choose Privacy Week, an initiative of the American Library Association. The hope is to spark a national conversation about privacy rights in our digital age and help us think critically and make informed choices about our privacy.
I was attracted to librarianship because I believe that access to information, literature, scholarship, the body of world knowledge is a basic human right, and that right should also include anonymity.
While the Internet has increased access to information and communication, we’re seeing now how vulnerable it’s leaving us to covert tracking and mining of our personal data and habits.
We know this, and yet we’re too lazy or too busy or don’t think we’ll ever be a target. But even if we’re not, do we really want to live in an Orwellian world or believe that it’s too complicated to understand, or that the government or big business knows best?
“Blowing smoke” and inciting fear are tactics of control. Privacy and democratic freedom come with risk, but without them, I see a much greater risk to our society and future.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the possibility of reform to the Patriot Act to curtail at least some of the Internet surveillance. That legislation is imminent, and we need to hold our elected officials accountable for protecting our right to privacy in the digital world.
I'm Paula Garrett, and that's my perspective.
