On visibility in public

By and large, those who are looking are those who hold power over the person being observed. Parents look. Teachers look. Employers look. Governments look. Corporations look. These people are often looking to judge or manipulate. Given the powerful position they are in, those doing the looking often think that they have the right to look. The excuse is simple: “it’s public.” But do they have the right to judge? The right to manipulate? This, of course, is the essence of conversations about surveillance. And so we argue and argue and argue about the right to privacy in public spaces.

From danah boyd‘s “Do you See What I See?: Visibility of Practices through Social Media”.

Also see: My earlier posts Ethics, friendships and Flickr and Twitter, privacy, and informational self-determination.