Question

Government surveillance is said to address threats to public safety and national security. In addition, private sector organizations often claim that the collection and analysis of “big data” leads to highly efficient business practices and better service to customers. Yet, the methods and scope of surveillance in the 21st century generate difficult questions for policy makers. Suppose it is your task to find an acceptable balance between, on the one hand, the use of surveillance to enhance public safety and national security and, on the other hand, society’s interest in guaranteeing personal privacy. To which fields of academic or professional activity will you turn for perspective and guidance? How, in your view, do these various fields of academic or professional endeavor inform policy debate about surveillance in a democratic society? Carefully explain your responses.

Answer 1

In order to determine a balance between privacy and security we need to consider the following

• Stakeholder opinions: we need representatives from the general population to express their view on privacy vs security question. Do normal people value privacy or security more? They are the key stakeholder for the outcome of the decision and needs to express their opinion.
• Expert opinions (probably debates and discussion): There will be supporters for privacy by various social activists and researchers. Similarly there will be argument for the security surveillance and their benefits. The right thing to do here is that we need to conduct a healthy debate between the two parties and weigh the pros and cons of both the sides. For this we should call the following
  • Activists/researchers for privacy
  • Corporations/defense personnel for the surveillance
• Legal opinions: finally we would need lawyers or academicians to interpret the nuances of constitution and the democratic system so that a final decision can be made.

These professions deal with ambiguity and dilemma at all times. There is always critical decision that is being made by these set of professionals. That is why I feel that these group of people, coming together and discussing the merits of privacy and security against each other may give us a much better understanding. This will help us in balancing the right policy that may be a win-win situation.