There is one other element that puts a slight twist on the accusations of privacy violations. It is a question of are these intrusions of personal space actually violations? Is privacy a right in our life, or is it something that we have merely become accustomed to?
It seems that privacy has been called many things, a right, a value, a claim, even an interest. Without getting into legal documentation and jargon dealing with privacy, the quick and easy answer to the pre- mentioned question, is that yes, our privacy is legally protected. Another problem arises, however, when we try to define what matters should be considered private and which matters cannot be. This triggers a conflict between the right to information and the right to privacy, with computers being at the forefront of these conflicts. A task force for privacy and computers was commissioned by the government in order to try and better this problem. They observed that
"the inevitable tensions between freedom of information and the right to privacy cannot be resolved in terms of abstract formulae: resolution demands sensitive balancing in the context of particular situations. Privacy interests must also be weighed against the public interest in knowledge and information, including the advance of science and technology."
This leads to the conclusion that privacy cannot be called an absolute right, our right to privacy is balanced against the rights of others and the public as a whole.
Our lives have been forever changed by the onslaught of computer technology. No longer can we think that our information is just that; ours. Information is valuable, and like anything else that is valuable, people pursue it. The new technologies in our life allow people to pursue this information by ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. All of this occurs with very little, if not no, regulation and control. Current laws are inadequate to protect our privacy in the new computer age, too many problems arise in definition, context and conflict.
Public protest to privacy violations via technology and the Internet is vastly arising. The intrusions are happening too easily and too often for people to stand back and watch. The Internet is finally beginning to display its' not so perfect side, showing us that having information easily accessible is perhaps not the breakthrough that it was once thought.