We adopt the theory of cultural lag to investigate individual privacy in modern society . When individuals present their opinions , preferences , and thoughts online , their control over this content seems certain at first - that is , the data is co - controlled by an individual both as the data provider as well as the data controller / processor . However , this is not the case for copied , retweeted , shared , or modified versions of the originals , as the original data provider no longer has control over the new data . When the control of the original data provider is uncertain , any guarantee of individual privacy is meaningless , although it is often observed ( Gurevich et al . 2016 ) . At this point , the cultural lag of individual privacy can be observed ; societies and nonmaterial culture are unable to keep pace with the rapid changes in technologies and material culture . Consequently , society must make social adjustments to address this lag .