<story><title>Privacy Is a Human Right</title><url>https://blog.torproject.org/privacy-is-a-human-right</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>freddyym</author><text>The best agrument is that privacy is power.[0] It is the power to influence you, show you adverts and predict your behaviour. Our personal data is being used as knowledge against us - as power against us. It is used to make us do things we otherwise would not do: to buy a certain product or to vote a certain way.&lt;p&gt;As companies share more information with governments, they are able to learn more and more about their citizens. Take Facebook, a company that Laura Poitras described as &amp;#x27;a gift to intelligence agencies&amp;#x27;[1]. Facebook allows governments to arrest people planning to participate in protests before they have even begun. This is just the tip of the iceberg.&lt;p&gt;Our privacy is eroding. As a society, we are beginning to accept this lack of privacy as normal: and this is extremely dangerous. Privacy provides a place for us to be ourselves, to express ourselves in new ways without fear of being watched by preying eyes. If we lose privacy then we lose this ability to experiment, and, more importantly, we lose our power.&lt;p&gt;[0]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;aeon.co&amp;#x2F;essays&amp;#x2F;privacy-matters-because-it-empowers-us-all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;aeon.co&amp;#x2F;essays&amp;#x2F;privacy-matters-because-it-empowers-u...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;the-switch&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;snowden-filmmaker-laura-poitras-facebook-is-a-gift-to-intelligence-agencies&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;the-switch&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;23...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>drdeadringer</author><text>&amp;gt; The best agrument is that privacy is power.&lt;p&gt;I am reminded of the TV series &amp;quot;The Prisoner&amp;quot; out of BBC, especially the final episode &amp;quot;Fall Out Pt2&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Expounds about &amp;quot;the individual&amp;#x27;s right to be individual&amp;quot;, community, the status quo, and so forth.&lt;p&gt;And over that &amp;quot;no&amp;quot; is a complete sentence that needs no more explanation.</text></comment>
<story><title>Privacy Is a Human Right</title><url>https://blog.torproject.org/privacy-is-a-human-right</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>freddyym</author><text>The best agrument is that privacy is power.[0] It is the power to influence you, show you adverts and predict your behaviour. Our personal data is being used as knowledge against us - as power against us. It is used to make us do things we otherwise would not do: to buy a certain product or to vote a certain way.&lt;p&gt;As companies share more information with governments, they are able to learn more and more about their citizens. Take Facebook, a company that Laura Poitras described as &amp;#x27;a gift to intelligence agencies&amp;#x27;[1]. Facebook allows governments to arrest people planning to participate in protests before they have even begun. This is just the tip of the iceberg.&lt;p&gt;Our privacy is eroding. As a society, we are beginning to accept this lack of privacy as normal: and this is extremely dangerous. Privacy provides a place for us to be ourselves, to express ourselves in new ways without fear of being watched by preying eyes. If we lose privacy then we lose this ability to experiment, and, more importantly, we lose our power.&lt;p&gt;[0]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;aeon.co&amp;#x2F;essays&amp;#x2F;privacy-matters-because-it-empowers-us-all&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;aeon.co&amp;#x2F;essays&amp;#x2F;privacy-matters-because-it-empowers-u...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;the-switch&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;23&amp;#x2F;snowden-filmmaker-laura-poitras-facebook-is-a-gift-to-intelligence-agencies&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;the-switch&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;23...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>austincheney</author><text>Adverts and telemetry suggest a third party. The more parties you introduce to any transaction the less private it becomes.&lt;p&gt;Actual real privacy would be between two parties that trust each other and encrypt their communications in both directions. That means no Facebook servers to intercept your commentary, send you advertisements, and send friend suggestions.</text></comment>