Examined Lives: Informational Privacy and the Subject as Object

TLDR

Abstract

In the Uni t ed S ta te s , p roposa l s fo r in format iona l pr i vacy pro tec t ion have proved enormous ly con t rover s ia l . On a po l i t i ca l l eve l , such proposa l s t h rea ten power fu l da ta process ing in te res t s . On a theore t i ca l l eve l , da ta processors and o ther da ta pr i vacy opp o n e n t s a r g u e t h a t i m p o s i n g r e s t r i c t i o n s o n t h e c o l l e c t i o n , u s e , a n d e x c h a n g e o f p e rsona l da ta wou ld ignore e s tab l i shed unders tand ings o f p roper t y , l im i t i nd iv idua l f reedom o f choice , v io la te pr inc ip les o f ra t ional in format ion use , and in f r inge da ta processors ’ f reedom o f speech . In th i s ar t i c l e , Pro fessor Ju l i e Cohen exp lores these theore t i ca l cha l l enges to in format iona l pr ivacy pro tec t ion . She conc ludes tha t ca tegor i ca l a rgumen t s f rom proper t y , cho ice , “ t ru th ,” and speech lack we igh t , and mask f unda menta l l y po l i t i ca l cho ices about the a l loca t ion o f power over in format ion , cos t , and oppor tun i t y . Each deba te , a l though couched in a rhe tor ic o f ind iv idua l l iber ty , e f f ect i ve l y reduces ind iv idua l s to ob jec t s o f cho ices and t rades made by o thers . Pro fes sor C o h e n a r g u e s , i n s t e a d , t h a t t h e d e b a t e a b o u t d a t a p r i v a c y p r o t e c t i o n s h o u l d b e grounded in an apprec ia t ion o f t he cond i t i ons neces sary f o r i nd i v idua l s t o deve lop and exerc i se au tonomy in f ac t , and tha t mean ing fu l au tonomy requ i re s a degree o f f r eedom from moni tor ing , scru t iny , and ca tegor i za t ion by o thers . The ar t i c l e conc ludes by ca l ling for the des ign o f bo th l ega l and t echno log ica l too l s fo r s t rong da ta pr i vacy pro tect i o n .