Privacy and Surveillance

Privacy is a person's right to keep information about themselves private and to control who sees it. Digital technology makes it easy to collect and share such details, sometimes without the person knowing.

When you sign up for a website, install an app or simply carry a phone, details about you are gathered: your name, age, location, search history and the videos you watch. Organisations use this data for targeted advertising, showing adverts matched to what you already look at. They may also sell it on, or lose it in a data breach where it is stolen or published. A gym app that records when you visit, for example, holds personal data that could be sold or leaked.

Sharing on social media

Many people share details about themselves online without thinking about who can see them. Posts, photos and comments can be copied and shared by anyone who can view them, and once something is posted it can be very difficult to remove, because other people may already have saved it.

Surveillance and tracking

Surveillance means watching or recording what people do. CCTV, facial recognition and phone location data help police work out where someone was and what happened, so they can catch offenders. The same tools record the movements of people who have done nothing wrong, so security has to be balanced against privacy. A bus ticket scanner records which stop each passenger uses: it could help trace a missing person, but it also leaves a trail of ordinary journeys.

Smart devices and wearables

Smart devices in the home and wearables collect data about your home and your body. A thermostat that learns when rooms are in use, or a wristband that records your heart rate, sends readings to the manufacturer, which builds a detailed picture of your daily routine.

All of this raises ethical questions about how far employers, parents or governments should be allowed to track where someone goes, read their messages or check the websites they visit. Recording people in public still gathers information about innocent people, so privacy is not only an issue behind closed doors.