Privacy is a Human Right

In the 7th segment of SMART: Coming to a City Near You, we explore the concept of privacy. Is it something that we are entitled to or granted at the discretion of the government?

The argument that “there is no expectation of privacy in public” has become a banal platitude that is commonly used to justify the escalation of government surveillance. This perspective towards privacy is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of a modern nation that holds a respect for human rights and dignity.

Acknowledging that one can expect to be viewed by others in a public setting is not a fair assessment of a state in which the movements and activities of individuals can be captured, databased, and analyzed. The potential for abuse of such a system is not just speculative. There are real-world examples of these consequences.

Privacy is a human right. It is essential that the populace start having discussions about the looming threats that are endangering that human right.