Writing 05: Privacy vs Security

The worry about Big Brother and the "surveillance state" isn't just an acceptable reality, it is our reality. In order to see this, you need to look no further than the atrocities occurring in China and Hong Kong. In China, there is an extensive network of monitoring and tracking such that, even if you leave the country, your actions can be still be viewed and recorded at any time. If you ever say something that it out of line with party ideology, even seemingly innocuous satire such as saying that the president of China looks like Winnie the Pooh, you and your family can be "disappeared," sent to re-education camps, or accused of crimes that you didn't commit. You aren't even safe abroad as the Chinese government will threaten whatever family and friends you have that are still living in the country. China of course will say that this is for the purpose of protecting "national sovereignty" from "Western corruption." They will say it's a matter of "national security." However, as can be seen in modern China, this justification for national defense over personal freedom, privacy, and civil rights is ultimately detrimental for the overall populace.

In the fight between privacy and security, I think the government should always ere on the side of privacy. Privacy, once lost, is nearly impossible to ever regain. Especially in the age of cameras and recordings everywhere, privacy is an ever dwindling resource. In a world without privacy, we face judgment at every corner. There is no forgiveness, no expression of unpopular ideas, no "going against the flow."

I think encryption is a key part of maintaining our right to privacy. We should be allowed to communicate without the possibility of outside actors snooping in on our every action. Of course, there is a cost to national security because of this. However, such is the price of maintaining a free and democratic state. Our values as a nation are worth more than simply maintaining security and defense. If we give up our values of free expression and privacy, we have already lost, even if the country survives in name only.