Lecture 2: An introduction to privacy Flashcards
Uncertainty avoidance:
The extent to which a society, or group relies on social norms, rules and procedures to minimize the unpredictability of future events.
Privacy (by Westin 1967)
- Political-scientific approach.
- Privacy is a basic need which helps us adjust to day-to-day interpersonal interactions
- A dynamic process (we regulate privacy so as to serve momentary needs and role requirements)
- Non-monotonic (you can have such things as too little, just enough, or not enough privacy
Definition privacy (Westin, 1967)
Privacy is ‘the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others’
Four purposes of privacy (Westin)
- Personal autonomy: Not being manipulated
- Emotional release: Freedom from roles and outside expectations
- Self evaluation: Freedom to think, process information and make plans
- Limited and protected boundaries: Ability to limit who has access to what information –> what to share with whom and when
Four states of privacy (Westin)
- Solitude: No observation from others
- Reserve: The right to decide what so share and what not
- Intimacy: Small group of all people with a strong bond
- Anonymity: The right not to be identified
Definition privacy (Altman, 1975)
A selective control of acces to the self or to one’s group
Five elements of privacy (Altman, 1975)
- Dynamic process
- Individual vs group levels
- desired vs actual level
- Non-monotonic
- By-directional (inwards and outwards)
Dynamic process (1/5 element of privacy)
Individuals regulate what they (do or not) want to share diferently, depending on the situational social context
Individual vs group level (2/5 element of privacy)
Individuals perceive their own privacy differently from that of their community/family
Desired vs actual level: (3/5 element of privacy)
Desired level of privacy might be lower/higher than individuals have in a given context
Non monotonic (4/5 element of privacy)
There is such a thing as both too much and not sufficient privacy
By-directional (inwards and outwards) (5/5 element of privacy)
Individuals might have different sensitivities for their actions towards others’ privacy and others’ actions towards them
Context Collapse
The flattening out of multiple distinct audiences in one’s social network, such that people from different contexts become part of a singular group of message recipients.
