My database management class had an interesting discussion today on privacy. The first issue was whether we as Americans have privacy. The fairly unanimous outcry from the people in the class was there is no privacy for the most part. Pretty much everything you do has some sort of tracking attached to it. Buy groceries, get a credit check, go to the doctor, it all gets recorded somewhere.

The discussion then moved to what should be private and who need privacy. It turned into one of those recursive discussions that ended in, “If you have nothing to hide then why do you need privacy? But if no one has anything to hide there is no reason to invade their privacy”.

I see the privacy issue as a very touchy subject. Who defines privacy and at what point does our society turn into “1984” or “Brave New World“?

I honestly have no idea where I stand on the issue because I feel like I do not have anything to hide, but at the same time I think that the 4th Amendment needs to be upheld.