Part V: Filling in the framework; Absolute advocacy dos and don'ts

Introduction
Part I: The Right to Privacy
Part II: The Nature of Consent
Part III: Transparency
Part IV: A Framework for the Consideration of Privacy Issues

Part V: Filling in the framework; Absolute advocacy dos and don'ts
Using the framework proposed in Part IV, there is certainly proper role for privacy advocacy in a free and open society.

With any interaction that can be categorized as mandated/opaque or mandated/vague a privacy advocate can be seen as simply using their right to free speech to argue for their own individual privacy rights. Since mandated interactions are mandated by the government and laws, ideally, are enforced equally, any change the privacy advocate spurs affects everyone. In a democracy this is completely appropriate.

The same can be said for interactions falling within the mandated/customary and mandated/transparent categories, but these are likely to be well-worn areas in the marketplace of ideas with little space for advocates to advance the public debate.

The other region of the framework that will attract advocates is the area of the opaque interactions to the right of the mandated section. But since the further right you move along the x-axis, the more consensual the interaction, the character of the advocates’ actions changes. Activity in this region is no longer petitioning the government for changes to the laws under which everyone must live; it is more nuanced than that. Activities in this region must attempt to educate individuals about the nature of these interactions or they short-circuit an individual’s freedom of choice by attempting to make the issue a legal one. Depending upon the issue at stake, either activity might be appropriate, but there is a real and substantial difference between the advocate’s activities re mandated and more consensual interactions.

So there are two regions of the framework that are sure to attract privacy advocates, where they have a legitimate role even though the nature of that role might change substantially.

There is also at least one region of the chart where there is absolutely no role for a privacy advocate who wishes to avoid invading the privacy of others and earning the label of hypocrite. That region is, of course the explicit/transparent area. An advocate who wishes to intrude upon this area does not wish to protect an individual’s right to privacy; he wishes to dictate the behavior of private individuals according to his own aesthetic.

The chart below shows the area of the previously suggested framework where it is reasonable to take an absolutist position. Advocates have an absolute right to act within the green area, and an absolute duty to refrain from activity in the red area (click to enlarge).

Part VI: Filling in the framework, subjectivity and interpretation

Part IV: A Framework for the Consideration of Privacy Issues

Introduction
Part I: The Right to Privacy
Part II: The Nature of Consent
Part III: Transparency

Part IV: A Framework for the Consideration of Privacy Issues
As discussed in section one, the right to privacy is an individual right to decide for oneself what information to share. Moreover, the exercise of other fundamental rights requires the individual to sacrifice privacy in the service of what they determine to be a higher value. Anyone who cares to disagree will inadvertently prove this assertion because one cannot maintain absolute privacy while expressing ones thoughts and beliefs. They would have to sacrifice some measure of their privacy in order to exercise their freedom of expression to communicate their disagreement.

Privacy, therefore, is akin to currency. It’s fine for a person to trade it for things they consider to be of higher value. It’s wrong to steal it. Some transactions, in retrospect, are seen to have been a good deal; some may seem less so. One person may be quite willing to engage in transactions that are beyond the comprehension of another person. Consent matters and consent reaches its most fulsome expression when the terms of the exchange are transparent.

Having established a conception of the Right to Privacy, the Nature of Consent, and Transparency, we are in a position to lay out a framework for public debate on privacy issues and, later, the scope for the role of self-appointed third parties in that debate.

All transactions bearing upon an individual’s privacy can be described in terms of the transparency of the exchange and the level of individual consent to the exchange.

(click image to enlarge)

Transparency
-Opaque. The individual has absolutely no knowledge about how the relevant privacy information may be used or by whom it may be used.
-Vague. The information may be used in ways that the person who shares the information would not reasonably suspect.
-Customary. The information may be shared in ways that the person would reasonably suspect.
-Transparent. The terms and conditions stating the exact circumstances under which the information may be shared are published and acknowledged to be understood by both parties.

Consent
-Mandated. An individual has no legal right to withhold information they might wish to keep private. Refusal to cooperate may entail incarceration or fines.
-Contingent. In order to engage in a certain relationship or arrangement or partake of a privilege an individual is required to share information they might otherwise prefer to keep to themselves.
-De facto. Through convention or common acceptance -- so widely understood as not to require explicit codification. Common sense.
-Explicit. Formally accepted -- signified by positive acts such as gestures, speech, oaths, affirmations or contracts.

Although, there is room for disagreement as to the exact character of each individual privacy transaction (which of the chart's boxes it fits into), they can all be placed somewhere on the chart above.

Hopefully, the above framework can start to break Privacy into more manageable pieces in furtherance of enhanced understanding of this issue that is so important to us all.

Next:
Part V: Filling in the framework; Absolute advocacy dos and don'ts
Part VI: Filling in the framework, subjectivity and interpretation