Digital Privacy: Philosophical Underpinnings Charles Osborne, PhD. Richard Hall, DA. Fiona Sussan, MBA, PhD School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix International Council for Small Business (ICSB) Annual Conference New Jersey June 2016

Definitions Privacy is defined as the state or condition of being free from being observed, or disturbed by other people. Digital privacy can best be described as the protection of the information of private citizens who use digital mediums relative to the internet.

Philosophical antecedents of privacy: Style the element of style - things kept private due to contemporary notions of modesty, social custom and convention, or individual choice. To the individual, such privacy is important, if only because one likes to control how they are perceived by others as they choose to determine it. Over time, such elements of privacy are subject to change, because the person changes, or social customs and conventions change.

Antecedents: Style the realm of the social sciences. For instance, one might ask whether people tend to vote for politicians for whom they have seen without their shirts (Obama, Reagan, Putin), or if felons tend to express their feelings in the form of visible tattoos. Cultural anthropologists might compare attire for women across the Victorian, Edwardian, Roaring Twenties, Depression, or contemporary eras. These examples both fall within the context of empirical, factual questions.

Purpose of Privacy the element of purpose - things kept private for concrete reasons beyond mere fashion or personal taste. For instance, people tend to safeguard their computer and online passwords because they could be subject to identity theft and subsequent fraud. We would look askance at anyone who is careless with their passwords. Thus, within reason, we endeavor to keep our passwords private. The salient feature of privacy of purpose is that there are pragmatic and utilitarian reasons for safeguarding it.

Reactive word Privacy is a word indicating its cause—privacy from thieves, perverts, gossips, and competitors. It is the “from” which indicates the reason and sense that is the cause for privacy itself. When making a claim to privacy, it makes sense only in the face of reacting to some cause for it.

Territorial word Privacy is often used to stake a claim for something that others should not violate, whether it is private property, behavior, or our thoughts and bodies. We might call such words territorial, for they mark things as mine or yours.

Theoretical word Privacy describes a quality rather than a quantity. Quantitative words come in degrees, and might be measured on a scale devised for the purpose. But while privacy may be important to us in various degrees or respects, being private is something that we or a jury must determine. Thus we could describe privacy as being theoretical because it refers to an ideal or concept seen by the mind and not measured by instruments.

Utopian word We know or should know that secrets of any kind are almost certain to be eventually found out. What we conceal with the hope of privacy depends a great deal upon people being polite and law-abiding. Is there any greater source of anger between people than telling tales—betraying confidence or privacy? Perhaps, but such violations are near the top. This tells us two things: that human nature abhors a secret, and that we ought to stop thinking we can have privacy in the end. Maybe the fact that privacy is in dreamland is what makes it so precious and sought. Our vulnerability to being found out is indeed good reason to be virtuous in the first place, but lacking that, the least we can hope for is that our friends and neighbors will pretend they did not see everything we do.